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Ten of 24 major federal agencies surveyed by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said they planned to expand their use of facial-recognition technology through fiscal year 2023. That is a historical plan, based on agency activity in FY2020—not a count of deployments in 2026 or proof that every planned expansion happened.
How many federal agencies used facial recognition?
In a survey published August 24, 2021, GAO found that 18 of the 24 agencies covered by the Chief Financial Officers Act reported using facial-recognition technology (FRT) for at least one purpose in FY2020. Ten of those surveyed agencies said they planned to expand their use through FY2023. The survey establishes what agencies reported and planned at that time; it does not show which plans were later completed.
GAO’s separate law-enforcement survey covered 42 agencies that employ officers. It asked about a different population and a different measure—access to systems, not just agency-owned systems—so its figures should not be added to or substituted for the 24-agency count.
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What did agencies use facial recognition for?
The FY2020 survey recorded multiple purposes. An agency could report more than one, so the categories overlap and do not add up to a total number of agencies.
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| Reported purpose | Agencies | What the figure means |
|---|---|---|
| Digital access or cybersecurity | 16 | Agencies reported FRT use for digital access or cybersecurity in FY2020. GAO, 2021. |
| Criminal-investigation leads | 6 | Agencies reported using FRT to generate leads for criminal investigations in FY2020. GAO, 2021. |
| Physical security | 5 | Agencies reported FRT use for physical security in FY2020. GAO, 2021. |
| Research and development | 10 | Agencies reported FRT-related research and development; examples included identifying people wearing masks and detecting image manipulation. GAO, 2021. |
One example of a proposed expansion was a pilot to automate traveler identity verification at airports. GAO described it as a plan, not as evidence that the pilot was completed or remains in operation.
Did agencies use systems they did not own?
Yes. In the separate survey of 42 law-enforcement agencies, 20 reported either owning facial-recognition systems or using systems owned by other entities. Fifteen reported using non-federal systems. The figures distinguish access from ownership: a federal employee could use a system maintained outside the employee’s agency or outside the federal government.
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GAO recommended that 13 agencies establish a way to track employee use of non-federal systems and assess related risks, including privacy and accuracy. This oversight issue matters because an agency may need to understand and govern how its staff use a system even when the agency does not own or operate it.
Are the expansion plans still current?
The FY2023 horizon has passed, but the cited government-wide survey does not establish what happened to each plan afterward. A 2026 GAO report confirms that federal agencies use AI for facial recognition at airports and describes agencies’ work with private companies to acquire and support AI. It does not provide a new government-wide count of agencies or systems using facial recognition, nor a refreshed tally of expansion plans.
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Accordingly, the available figures do not establish that federal facial-recognition use is increasing government-wide in 2026. They show prior reported use and plans, plus later examples of ongoing use. They also do not support ranking agencies by current system count.
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Training
In a 2023 review of seven selected DHS and DOJ law-enforcement agencies, GAO found that all seven initially used facial-recognition services without requiring staff to take related training. By April 2023, two of the seven required training. These findings apply to the agencies in that review, not automatically to every federal agency.
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Privacy, civil liberties, and civil rights
In December 2023, the Department of Justice issued an interim policy addressing the scope of facial-recognition use, training, privacy, civil liberties, and potential civil-rights risks. That policy is a DOJ step; it should not be read as a single government-wide policy covering every agency.
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Open DHS recommendation
GAO’s recommendation-status update, as of July 2026, said DHS officials were still working to address outstanding privacy requirements and update documentation. The recommendation remained open at that time. This is a dated status for the recommendation, not a complete account of every agency’s safeguards or implementation.
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How to read the numbers
- Planned is not deployed: the 10-agency figure describes intended expansion through FY2023, not verified implementation.
- Use is not ownership: law-enforcement agencies reported access to systems owned by other entities as well as systems they owned.
- Different surveys answer different questions: the 24-agency survey describes broad agency use in FY2020; the 42-agency survey focuses on law-enforcement access.
- Later examples do not refresh the total: the 2026 report supplies context on airport use and AI procurement, not a new government-wide adoption count.
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