DHS/NATIONAL SECURITY: “A new report concludes that a Department of Homeland Security pilot program improperly gathers data on Americans when it requires passengers embarking on foreign flights to undergo facial recognition scans to ensure they haven’t overstayed visas.
The report, released on Thursday [12-21-17] by researchers at the Center on Privacy and Technology at Georgetown University’s law school, called the system an invasive surveillance tool that the department has installed at nearly a dozen airports without going through a required federal rule-making process.
The report’s authors examined dozens of Department of Homeland Security documents and raised questions about the accuracy of facial recognition scans. They said the technology had high error rates and are subject to bias, because the scans often fail to properly identify women and African-Americans…
A spokesman for the Customs and Border Protection, an arm of the Homeland Security Department, did not have an immediate comment in response.
The report comes as Homeland Security officials begin to roll out a biometric exit system that uses facial recognition scanning in 2018 at all American airports with international flights.”
-Ron Nixon, “Facial Scans at U.S. Airports Violate Americans’ Privacy, Report Says,” The New York Times online, Dec. 21, 2017