Senators slam ‘illegal’ facial scanning of US travelers
Two senators have urged the Department of Homeland Security to end facial scans of departing passengers at airports, calling it a violation of federal law.
In a strongly worded letter to DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Senators Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) called for a halt and requested documents to prove its legality.
Specifically, the senators say the agency does not have the power to authorize biometric scans of US citizens.
"We request that DHS stop the expansion of this program and provide Congress with its explicit statutory authority to use and expand a biometric exit program on USA citizens," they wrote.
They all called into question the accuracy of the system.
"Potential flaws with this biometric technology raise a number of questions, especially since no perfectly accurate biometric scanning program currently exists."
The program is live at nine airports where scans are taken of all departing US and foreign nationals.
These include airports in Atlanta, Boston, New York and Washington DC.
The government then said on Thursday that US citizens may opt out of facial screening and make their travel documents available for a manual check.
"CBP is working to meet the Congressional mandate for biometric exit in a way that’s most efficient and secure for the traveler and that is least disruptive for the travel industry, while also effectively enhancing border security," a government statement said.
The senators also called for full transparency over what the data collected will be used for, and setting up ‘proper safeguards to prevent the spread of this data to third parties or other government agencies.’
Meanwhile a report by Georgetown University said the $1 billion biometric program ‘offers no tangible benefit’ and is ‘riddled with problems.’
It said the program could be a catalyst for more invasive types of government surveillance and could violate privacy laws.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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