US Bureau of Industry and Security calls for comments on sale of facial recognition technologies

The US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is seeking comments on restriction of export for biometric technologies that raise human rights concerns. BIS has listed, among others, facial recognition software and other biometric systems, non-lethal visual disruption lasers, long range acoustic devices, fingerprint readers and components, biometric voice recognition systems and their components, polygraphs and non-military mobile crime scene laboratories that include any of the restricted items. The bureau is also looking for ways to distinguish between commercial applications of these technologies from use for law enforcement purposes.

The call for comments is open until 15 September 2020.