STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2697

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2293

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Government Operations and Transportation, to which was referred S.B. No. 2293 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FACIAL RECOGNITION SYSTEMS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to limit the Department of Transportation's use of facial recognition systems to certain specified situations.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation and one individual. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Security Industry Association. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the American Civil Liberties Union.

Your Committees find that the unregulated and unfettered use of facial recognition and imaging technology poses unique and significant implications with respect to the civil rights and liberties of the State's residents and visitors. Your Committees recognize, however, that in certain limited circumstances, the use of this technology serves a legitimate public purpose and does not infringe on an individual's privacy rights.

Your Committees further find that detecting infectious travelers is necessary to ensure that Hawaii's economy can fully function while keeping the public safe. In May 2021, facial imaging equipment became operational throughout the State's five major airports. Your Committees find that this equipment is being used in conjunction with thermal screening as part of the project of the Airports Division of the Department of Transportation to screen travelers for fevers and detect those who may be infected with the coronavirus or other infectious diseases that pose a public health risk.

Your Committees additionally find that the Airports Division of the Department of Transportation should be allowed to continue using the facial imaging system purchased for sole use within airports to protect the public health and safety while balancing concerns regarding privacy interests of individuals.

Accordingly, your Committees find that this measure balances concerns regarding privacy and public health and safety by limiting the Department of Transportation's use to a facial imaging system.

Your Committees note the testimony of the Department of Transportation on the nature of its imaging system and need for funding for its continued maintenance and operation. Based on this testimony, your Committees find that the Department of Transportation uses an "integrated thermal scanner facial imaging system" that obtains images for the purpose of detecting a person's temperature; captures images only of persons with temperatures of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher who are referred to the Department of Health for testing; and neither retains the image for longer than thirty minutes nor is connected to any personal identifying information or shared with any other entity or person.

Your Committees have therefore amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that the system used by the Department of Transportation is an integrated thermal scanner facial imaging system;

(2) Specifying that any images obtained by the Department of Transportation's integrated thermal scanner facial imaging system be deleted within thirty minutes of capture, rather than within sixty minutes;

(3) Inserting a blank appropriation to the Department of Transportation for the maintenance and operation of its thermal scanner facial imaging system;

(4) Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose;

(5) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(6) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Government Operations and Transportation that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2293, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2293, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Government Operations and Transportation,

________________________________ CHRIS LEE, Chair

________________________________ SHARON MORIWAKI, Chair