Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have begun the second phase of a technical demonstration that uses facial recognition technology to verify the identities of outbound international travelers as they arrive at the airport security checkpoint.
In Phase II of the evaluation, the TSA’s Travel Document Checker, who typically examines the boarding pass and government-issued identity documents of everyone seeking to pass through the security checkpoint, will direct all travelers on outbound international flights to a nearby podium equipped with a CBP-owned camera, according to an Aug. 14 Privacy Impact Statement released by CBP. Captured photos will be transferred to CBP’s Traveler Verification Service (TVA), which contains a gallery of photos of passengers scheduled to fly out of the U.S. on select daily flights, and searched for a match.
Results of the biometric matching search will be sent to a TSA-owned tablet used by the Travel Document Checker. If a match is confirmed, a CBP application will on the device will display the captured photo along with biographic data for the document checker to review and direct the passenger to the appropriate screening lane.
If there isn’t a match for the photo, no biographic information will be displayed on the tablet and the document checker will use standard verification techniques to verify the identity of the traveler. Also, if there is no match, CBP officers will receive an alert on their own devices. In these cases, CBP officers equipped with handheld Biometric Mobile-Exit devices that can be used to “verify authenticity, identity, and citizenship via biographic data and an examination of travel documents.”
Phase II began Aug. 15 at Los Angeles International Airport. TSA earlier this year also tested facial recognition technology at the airport. In Oct. 017, TSA worked with CBP on a test of facial recognition technology at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
The BE-Mobile devices have already been evaluated by CBP for part of their demonstrations of biometric technology to verify the identities of foreign nationals departing the U.S. in accordance with the terms of their visas. For the Phase II evaluation, the BE-Mobile devices can also be used by CBP officers for additional biometric capture, such as fingerprints or facial images, for a search against the Department of Homeland Security’s IDENT biometric database to check if an individual is on a watchlist.
If derogatory information is found about the traveler, that person may be escorted to the Federal Inspection Services are for further review and potential action.
Participation in the photo capture process at the TSA checkpoint is voluntary. Passengers that decline to participate will go through the standard travel document checking procedures.