Starting at the end of this year, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will begin collecting biometric data from non-residents entering or exiting the United States to help build a biometric “gallery,” according to a new rule from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
While U.S. citizens can opt out of data collection, non-residents will be required to provide this data to verify travel documents, identify potential visa overstays, and prevent terrorism, DHS said in its posting to the Federal Register.
The system will also screen for those who did not follow entry procedures into the United States and flag incorrect or incomplete biometric information.
“An integrated biometric entry-exit system provides an accurate way to verify an individual’s identity, and, consequently, can improve security and effectively combat attempts by terrorists who use false travel documents to circumvent border checkpoints,” said DHS.
The department said that past efforts to collect biometric data during departures were limited because most ports lacked designated areas for conducting those inspections, including comparisons with biometric information collected upon arrival.
However, new facial comparison technology tested by CBP now enables a “comprehensive biometric entry-exit solution” that uses existing passenger data and photographs to “create galleries of facial image templates to correspond with who is expected to be arriving in or departing from the United States.”
Those photos may be taken from passport, visa, or immigration applications or “interactions with CBP” at previous border inspections.
“Once the gallery is created based on the advance information, the facial comparison technology compares a template of a live photograph of the traveler to the gallery of facial image templates,” said DHS. “Live photographs are taken where there is clear expectation that travelers will need to provide documentary evidence of their identity.”
CBP has already completed implementing this system at entry points across airports and will roll out the system to all commercial sea and air exit points within the next three to five years, DHS said.
While not CBP system-specific, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has previously found that general facial screening services tend to have lower rates of accuracy for communities of color, particularly for Black and Indigenous Americans.
Other federal immigration enforcement entities, such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), have also expanded their use of biometric technology, prompting concern from lawmakers who warn the tools could be weaponized against communities of color.
DHS claimed in its posting on CBP’s use of screening technology that it has “conducted extensive testing of facial matching technology and CBP’s internal analysis shows that facial comparison technology as used in international traveler screening operations is able to match travelers at a rate of greater than 98 percent.”