The Department of Homeland Security will soon begin using facial recognition technology to compile a large database of all foreign travelers entering and leaving the United States. The government says the technology will identify people who have entered the country illegally or overstayed their visas, while critics are concerned about potential data breaches.
The information gathering by border patrol agents coincides with the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration and will begin sometime in December, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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Customs and Border Protection currently uses facial recognition at 238 airports.
Border Patrol agents will also use the technology to identify American citizens leaving or entering the country. The agency says it would delete photos of Americans within 12 hours.
DHS said in a statement that the new system will “make the process for verifying the identity of aliens more efficient, accurate and secure.“ The program will reportedly begin with photographs at commercial airports. The department will reportedly store those pictures for 75 years.
Critics warn of cyber attacks
Critics suggest that such a system would be vulnerable to cyberattacks because of the massive amount of individual data stored over decades in a centralized database of biometrics, or automated recognition of people, based on certain characteristics or features.
“Unlike passwords, biometric data is immutable,” Eran Barak, chief executive of data-security firm MIND told the Journal. “If compromised, that data would be compromised forever.”
Major international airports in New York, Los Angeles and Miami are already equipped with facial recognition technology. They are also key points of foreign entry into the United States.
How the system works
Currently, biometric security for immigration purposes entails taking a person’s photo and a form of identity, such as a passport, and matching the two. The system then creates a biometric template for future reference. At a U.S. border crossing, the facial scanner then matches the traveler with the stored biometric template.
The Journal reports that photo and replay detection are hallmarks of an effective biometric system that can screen for violators.
However, Patrick Joyce, from cybersecurity firm Proofpoint, noted that “anytime you collect and build a large centralized database of biometrics, especially one which can span decades and include data of millions of individuals, it creates the opportunity for long-term risk.”
