Customs and Border Protection and Mineta San Jose International Airport this fall will deploy facial recognition technology to verify the departure of all travelers on international flights.

CBP and the airport also said that deployments of facial recognition technology began on June 25 to enhance the processing of international arrivals to the U.S.

The deployment for entry processing and pending use of facial recognition for departure confirmations at Mineta San Jose marks another milestone in CBP’s program to rollout biometric technology at the nation’s airports to enhance security and improve the experience for travelers.

One of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission calls for the U.S. to verify the arrival and departure of foreign nationals into and out of the U.S. using biometrics. For more than a decade, CBP has been using fingerprint scanners to help process foreign nationals arriving to the U.S. Departure processing using biometrics has been more problematic but once the agency decided two years ago that facial recognition systems deployed at departure gates are the way to go, it has slowly, but deliberately, moved in this direction.

CBP continues to conduct evaluations of facial recognition technology at a number of airports and late this spring, the Greater Orlando Airport Authority agreed to deploy the systems at 30 departure gates and at Federal Inspection stations for arrivals. The agency is working with airports and airlines to get them to pay for and install the technology for the departure process. In some cases, airlines are using the technology to also double as a boarding pass, in addition to conducting the exit check.

A spokeswoman for Mineta San Jose tells HSR that the goal for international fliers at the airport is to have airlines use the facial recognition technology in place of the boarding bass. She says “It will take some work with the airlines to ensure their processes will allow single-step boarding.”

Orlando International and Mineta San Jose are the only two airports so far that are committed to full deployments of the facial recognition technology. At Mineta San Jose, the airport will deploy the facial recognition systems at seven departure gates.

“The use of biometrics technology will help cut down wait times and enhance the overall experience for our international travelers, especially as we continue to see unprecedented growth at SJC,” San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said in a statement.

In 2017, Mineta San Jose processed 438,000 international arrivals versus 199,000 in 2015.

The airport has selected Spain’s Amadeus to integrate the deployment of the camera technology. The cost of the award hasn’t been determined and will be based on the hardware the airport chooses, the airport spokeswoman says.