Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Digital Civil and Human Rights Act of 2022”.
Digital Civil and Human Rights Act of 2022
A BILL
To establish prohibitions on the use of automated systems in a discriminatory manner, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Prohibition of discriminatory use of automated systems
In general— No Federal agency, court of the United States, State government, local government, or tribal government may use any automated decision system that has a disparate impact on the basis of race, national origin, color, religion, disability, or sex.
Publicly available repository— The head of each Federal agency shall maintain a site on the public website of the Federal agency that contains a bias datasheet for each automated decision system used by such Federal agency with the potential for a disparate impact on the bases established under subsection (a).
Definition— In this section the term “bias datasheet” means a datasheet conforming to the standard published pursuant to section 22B of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act.
Prohibition against discrimination or segregation in places of public accommodation— Section 201 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(f) It shall be an unlawful practice for a place of public accommodation to use in its operations affecting commerce any automated decision system (as such term is defined in section 701) that has a disparate impact on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”
Unlawful employment practices— Section 703 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–2) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(o) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for a respondent, in connection with the selection or referral of applicants or candidates for employment or promotion, to use any automated decision system that has a disparate impact on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”
Definitions in Civil Rights Act of 1964— Section 701 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–2) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(o) The term “automated decision system” means any system, software, or process (including one derived from machine learning, statistics, or other data processing or artificial intelligence techniques and excluding passive computing infrastructure) that uses computation, the result of which serves as a basis for a decision or judgment.
“(p) The term “court of the United States” has the meaning given such term in section 451 of title 28, United States Code.”
rulemaking— Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the head of each Federal agency, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, shall make rules to carry out this section and the amendments made by this section.
Sec. 3 Prohibition of bias in use of automated systems by the department of defense
In general— Chapter 3 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
“130l. Prohibition of use of automated systems with bias
“(a) In general—None of the funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for any fiscal year for the Department of Defense may be used for the use of any automated decision system with any adverse distinction based on race, religion, sex, health, age, or any other similar criteria.
“(b) Publicly available repository—Not later than one year after the effective date of this section, the Secretary of Defense shall maintain a site on the public website of the Department of Defense that contains a bias datasheet for each automated decision system used by the Department of Defense with the potential for an adverse distinction on the bases established under subsection (a).
“(c) Definitions—In this section:
“(1) The term “automated decision system” has the meaning given such term in section 701 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“(2) The term “adverse distinction” has the meaning given such term through the application of the Geneva Conventions and customary international law.
“(3) The term “bias datasheet” means a datasheet conforming to the standard published pursuant to section 22B of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act and includes an addendum related to international law.”
Report required—
In general— Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Secretary of State, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the implementation of the amendments made by this section.
Elements— The report required by subsection (b) shall include the following:
An accounting of regulations prescribed, revised, or withdrawn in the implementation of the prohibition created under subsection (a).
An identification and assessment of any automated decision systems used by the Department of Defense prior to the enactment of this Act which had an adverse distinction based on race, religion, sex, health, age, or any other similar criteria.
Recommendations for actions to affirm the same prohibition for all parties to the Geneva Conventions.
Form— The report under paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain a classified annex. The unclassified portion of the report shall be posted on a publicly available website of the Department of Defense.
Definition— In this section the term “appropriate congressional committees” means—
the congressional defense committees;
the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate; and
the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives.
Clerical amendment— The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 130k the following new item:
Effective date— The amendments made by this section shall take effect on the date that is one year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
Sec. 4 Report on intelligence community use of automated decision systems with bias
In general— Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of National Intelligence shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the use within the intelligence community of automated decision systems with an adverse distinction based on race, religion, sex, health, age, or any other similar criteria.
Elements— The report required by subsection (a) shall include the following:
An accounting of the automated decision systems used by the intelligence community, excluding cyberspace operations, with the potential for an adverse distinction based on race, religion, sex, health, age, or any other similar criteria.
An assessment of any adverse distinctions based on race, religion, sex, health, age, or any other similar criteria.
An assessment of the impact of a prohibition within the intelligence community on automated decision systems with an adverse distinction based on race, religion, sex, health, age, or any other similar criteria.
An assessment of the programs and funding required to replace within the intelligence community any automated decision systems with an adverse distinction based on race, religion, sex, health, age, or any other similar criteria.
Form— The report under subsection (a) may be submitted in classified form, but if so submitted shall include an unclassified executive summary. The unclassified portion of the report shall be posted on a publicly available website of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Definition— In this section:
The term “appropriate congressional committees” means—
the congressional defense committees;
the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate; and
the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives.
The term “intelligence community” has the meaning given such term in section 3003(4) of title 50, United States Code.
The term “automated decision system” has the meaning given such term in section 701 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The term “adverse distinction” has the meaning given such term through the application of the Geneva Conventions and customary international law.
Sec. 5 Establishment of datasheet standards on automated decision system bias
In general— The National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 271 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 22A the following new section:
“22B. Automated decision system bias datasheets
“(a) In general—The Director of the Institute, in consultation with such researchers, private sector industry experts, legal experts, and civil rights experts as the Director considers appropriate, shall develop, publish, and maintain standards for reporting bias in an automated decision system.
“(b) Elements—The standards described in subsection (a) shall require the following:
“(1) An assessment of bias on the basis of race, national origin, color, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
“(2) The source, size, and characteristics of any dataset used as the basis for the automated decision system.
“(3) The content is accessible and machine readable in accordance with the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 note).
“(4) Any other requirements as determined by the Director.
“(c) Definitions—In this section the term “automated decision system” has the meaning given such term in section 701 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”
Deadline for implementation— Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall initially publish the standards required under subsection (a).