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CBP Deploys Facial Recognition Biometric Exit Technology At More Airports

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced the

deployment of facial recognition biometric exit technology to

several more airports, including McCarran International Airport in

Las Vegas, Nevada, for one daily flight from the United States to

Guadalajara, Mexico; and William P. Hobby International Airport in

Houston, Texas, for select flights. This follows recent deployments

of the technology to Washington Dulles International Airport;

George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas; and

O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois. An initial

pilot was also conducted at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta

International Airport. Additional deployments are planned in the

near future.

John Wagner, CBP’s Deputy Executive Assistant Commissioner

for Field Operations, said, “With the expansion of this

technology we will be looking at different flights, airports,

lighting conditions, and internal IT configurations to demonstrate

to our stakeholders that this solution is flexible, reliable and

easy for travelers to use.” Using the flight manifest, CBP

builds a flight-specific photo gallery using photographs from the

travel document the traveler provided to the airline. CBP then

compares the live photo against the document photo in the gallery

to ensure that the traveler is the true bearer of the document. If

the photo captured at boarding is matched to a U.S. passport, the

traveler—having been confirmed as a U.S. citizen—is

automatically determined to be out of scope for biometric exit

purposes and the photo is “discarded after a short period of

time,” CBP said, adding that it “remains committed to

protecting the privacy of all travelers.”

The announcement is at https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/local-media-release/cbp-deploys-biometric-exit-technology-las-vegas-mccarran-international.

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