The Facial Recognition Act of 2025 aims to regulate the use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement agencies at federal, state, and local levels. States or local governments failing to substantially comply with the Act's requirements for a fiscal year will face a 15 percent reduction in certain federal grant awards.

A core provision requires law enforcement officers to obtain a judicial order to use facial recognition in conjunction with a reference photo database, except in specific emergency situations. Applications for such orders must be approved by the head of a law enforcement agency and demonstrate probable cause that the person sought has committed a serious offense. Orders are limited to a 7-day period and must specify the photos or videos to be used.

The bill mandates that arrest photo databases used with facial recognition must remove photos of individuals who are minors, released without charge, had charges dropped or dismissed, or were acquitted. State departments of motor vehicles are required to post notices and provide information to the public about law enforcement's use of facial recognition with driver's license and ID photos, including language requirements for accessibility.

Exceptions to the warrant requirement include identifying deceased or incapacitated persons, AMBER Alert subjects, lawfully arrested individuals during booking, or in emergency situations involving immediate danger of death or serious physical injury. However, for emergency uses, a prosecutor must apply for a subsequent order within 12 hours, and failure to obtain approval requires the destruction of all information obtained.

The Act imposes several significant prohibitions on facial recognition use. Law enforcement may not use it to create records of individuals exercising constitutional rights, rely on protected characteristics (race, gender, etc.) for selection unless linked to a specific criminal incident, or enforce immigration laws. It also prohibits the use of facial recognition with images from body cameras, dashboard cameras, or aircraft cameras, and explicitly bans face surveillance.

Furthermore, a facial recognition match cannot be the sole basis for probable cause for a search, arrest, or other law enforcement action, and officers must examine results carefully for inaccuracies. The use of facial recognition with databases containing illegitimately obtained information is also prohibited. Agencies must log their facial recognition searches to comply with reporting and audit requirements.

Extensive reporting requirements are established for both state and federal judges and prosecutors regarding the number of orders, offenses investigated, arrests, convictions (disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, and age), and database types used. The Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts is tasked with compiling and publicly releasing an annual comprehensive report to Congress.

Annual audits are mandated for all federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies using facial recognition, conducted by the Government Accountability Office or an independent state agency, respectively. If violations are uncovered, the agency must cease using facial recognition until all issues are corrected and publicly notify the suspension.

Crucially, the bill requires all facial recognition systems to undergo annual accuracy and bias testing by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to determine overall accuracy and variations based on race, ethnicity, gender, or age. Law enforcement is prohibited from using systems that do not achieve a sufficiently high level of accuracy, as determined by NIST and a rule issued by the Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division.

NIST is also tasked with developing best practices, an ongoing benchmark test, operational testing protocols, and training standards for human operators reviewing facial recognition results. This section takes effect 18 months after enactment, with authorized appropriations for NIST's work.

The Act provides robust enforcement mechanisms, including the suppression of evidence obtained in violation of the Act, administrative discipline for officers, and a civil action for individuals whose rights are violated. Victims can seek equitable relief, damages (up to $50,000 per violation), and attorney's fees, with a defense for good faith reliance on a warrant or statutory authorization. A separate civil action is allowed for disparate impact based on protected characteristics.

Law enforcement agencies must provide arrested individuals identified via facial recognition with detailed notice, including the agency and database used, the authorizing order, accuracy reports, probe images, and the candidate list. This information must be provided in an appropriate language if the individual is not fluent in English. The bill clarifies that it does not preempt more stringent state or local privacy protections and states are not immune from civil actions under this Act.