Officials with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently met with representatives from the privacy community to discuss issues with CBP’s biometric exit system and individual privacy rights.
The meeting was the first of multiple planned engagements with privacy groups. Currently, the agency is conducting a test run of the new exit technology at five airports throughout the country including Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Washington-Dulles International Airport in Virginia, George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, and McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.
CBP is also working in conjunction with airline partners to include facial recognition technology as part of the boarding process at Hartsfield-Jackson, John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, and Logan International Airport in Boston.
“CBP has and will continue to engage our privacy office at every step in the process to add biometric to the departure process from the United States,” John Wagner, deputy executive assistance commissioner with CBP’s Office of Field Operations, said. “We are fully committed to meeting existing privacy laws and regulations while ensuring and safeguarding the privacy of all travelers.”
Recently, the agency released two privacy impact assessments in order to provide the public and privacy rights watchdogs with notice of how CBP will use and maintain its data collected from passengers as it relates to current demonstrations at each airport.
First established in 2004, CBP began screening procedures based off digital fingerprints for specified non-U.S. citizens in order to help secure the nation’s borders and to ensure that each passengers’ identity is legitimate.