PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Apr 8, 2021
Justice in Forensic Algorithms Act of 2021 This bill establishes a federal framework to govern the use of computational forensic software. The term computational forensic software means software that relies on an automated computational process to assess evidence in a criminal investigation (e.g., facial recognition technology).
The framework contains various elements, including the following:
requirements for the establishment of testing standards and a testing program for computational forensic software,
requirements for the use of computational forensic software by federal law enforcement agencies and related entities (e.g., crime labs),
a ban on the use of trade secret evidentiary privilege to prevent federal criminal defendants from accessing evidence collected using computational forensic software or information about the software (e.g., source code), and
limits on the admissibility of evidence collected using computational forensic software.
People & committees
Rep. Takano, Mark [D-CA-41] · D–CA
Legislative record
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Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Research and Technology.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
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Source last updated: Jan 3, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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