U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced Wednesday it would conduct a technical demonstration of facial recognition biometric technology at one Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) for 30 days.
As part of the demonstration, CBP will build a photo gallery of travelers boarding international flights at TSA’s Terminal 7 international checkpoint using the flight manifests, passports, visas and other travel documents. The TSA officer will review travelers’ boarding passes and identification documents as normal and then direct the traveler to a camera next to the TSA ticket document checking podium. Once the facial image is captured, the passenger will go through the TSA security checkpoint to their departure gate as usual.
“As we continue to deploy technical demonstrations, CBP is assessing the use of biometric technology as part of a future end-to-end process, from check-in to departure, in which travelers use biometrics instead of their boarding pass or ID throughout the security and boarding process,” said John Wagner, deputy executive assistant commissioner, Office of Field Operations. “Expanding these demonstrations to the TSA process is the next step in CBP’s goal of transforming and improving air travel—making it smoother, seamless and more efficient for travelers—while also enhancing the security of the process.”
CBP will use the images for analytical purposes only and will delete all images within 14 days.
CBP has deployed biometric technology at a single gate at eight U.S. international airports as part of the agency’s implementation of a biometric exit system.