investmentwatchblog.com / BY · JULY 15, 2017
The US government has rolled out a plan to reshape airport security around facial recognition, playing off a wealth of passport photos and visa applications.
Led by Customs and Border Protection, the plan is built around the Biometric Exit program, which will register visitors leaving the US using facial recognition. But new statements show that CBP’s plans could make facial scans necessary for US citizens as well, documenting them when they reenter the country or pass through TSA checkpoints. The result would eventually grow into an airport-wide system Customs officials call “The Biometric Pathway.”
John Wagner, deputy assistant commissioner at CBP, laid out that vision at the ConnectID conference last week. “We’re going to build this for [Biometric] Exit. We’re out of time, we have to,” Wagner told the crowd. “But why not make this available to everyone? Why not look to drive the innovation across the entire airport experience?”
The Exit program is currently verifying passengers on a flight from Atlanta to Tokyo, and is set to roll out in seven new airports over the summer. Expanding it beyond departure gates will depend on partner agencies, particularly the TSA — but there’s already a significant appetite for using facial recognition in other parts of the airport. Already a partner in the Atlanta test, Delta has shown early interest in the system, seeing it as an opportunity to improve customers’ airport experiences. According to Delta Customer Initiatives chief Christian Revilla, who also spoke at ConnectID, airport biometrics are one of the four chief priorities set by the company’s CEO for the coming year.
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