3/13/19

Airport Facial ID 2021 Via 777-Trump EO - What About Legality, Opt-Out? -- They Don't Answer

Facial recognition At US airports 2021. The story has been out for a few days. Trump executive-order used to essentially bypass all typical regulatory red-tape and expedite implementation. Two articles below. First is just one paragraph quoted from one of many articles reporting the basic information. The second article is the reason for this post though... asking how will this affect the individual...what rights do they have...can they opt out, etc.. Definitely a topic on which to be well informed:
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Facial recognition technology at 20 largest US airports by 2021

"The 'biometric verification of identities' of all travelers crossing US borders is set for a 2021 start date, with Homeland Security scrambling to get the system in place after Trump issued an executive order in March 2017 expediting the process. Every single traveler, including American citizens, will have their faces scanned at the major airports, prompting fears among privacy advocates of an Orwellian program of surveillance. A lack of regulatory safeguards and vetting have even led some to argue the introduction is in defiance of the law...
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This second article looks at how exactly the new CBP [U.S. Customs and Border Protection] system is set up. Very briefly, an existing 2017 law put in place mandatory facial ID for foreigners - having to submit to being photographed at the airport by CBP. US citizens can decline and opt-out of having the CBP airport-photo taken. Existing images are available from other sources though, which in the coming 2021 system, CBP has unilaterally claimed as their 'right' to access and use. In other words they do not need to take a photo of a person on the spot for their own CBP system because those photos already exist in other databanks and they are going to use them. Is that even legal? - and can you opt-out? Answer: the legalities are not really being addressed; and they changed the wording on the existing 2017 law to purposely obfuscate the answer on whether opting-out is possible and if so how it could be done:

Airport Facial Recognition is Here and Expanding: What Are Your Rights? Can You Opt Out?

[excerpted] U.S. Customs and Border Protection plans to implement facial recognition technology as part of its Biometric Entry-Exit program in all international airports by 2025. While the government is getting ready to to roll out the technology on a large scale, laws and regulations have yet to catch up.

When it comes to facial recognition technology and the question of “What are my rights?” Jonathan Turley, a professor at the George Washington University School of Law, told Newsweek the short answer was that we have very little, if any, legal power.

“There is no constitutional protection against an individual being facially recognized on the street,” Turley said. “If we had police officers at every corner, it would be perfectly constitutional.” ...While there are restrictions on the government surveying people in their homes, in a public place, Turley said they could be legally followed and recognized, and police could report their whereabouts.

“There is a glaring gap in federal law and dealing with this type of technology. It doesn’t easily fit existing doctrine.”


Face ID rolled out at Dulles September 2018. Step up to the screen sir - you have a check you may
proceed. Next - sir you have back child-support and unpaid traffic tickets...step to the side please.

The current Biometric Entry-Exit program gives U.S. citizens the ability to opt out of having their image collected at the airport... While U.S. citizens can opt out of having their photograph taken at the airport, Scott said there was no way to opt out of having their picture added to the [CBP] gallery [previously collected from various other sources...kept in a 'databank'] used to compare images.

“Customs and Border Patrol unilaterally decided, well, we want to use those images as part of this facial recognition that we’re implementing at U.S. airports,” Scott said. “There was no decision that involved the public.”

On Tuesday, the Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a Freedom of Information Act complaint requesting records about the alternative procedures put in place for travelers who opt out of facial recognition technology. The complaint argued that Custom and Border Patrol's modification of the descriptions of alternative processes made it more difficult for passengers to opt out.

The 2017 Privacy Impact Assessment informed passengers that they could have a Customs and Border Patrol officer manually process them by verifying the authenticity of their documentation, and that they matched those documents. But, as the complaint noted, the “straightforward description” was changed, noting that the alternative screening process “typically” involves a Customs and Border Patrol officer manually processing the person. Customs and Border Patrol referred Newsweek to an answer to one of the FAQs on the website, which stated an alternative process was available, "such as by presenting travel credentials to an available CBP officer or authorized airline personnel."

As advancements are made and facial recognition technology becomes more normalized, it’s likely to infiltrate other areas beyond the confines of the airport.

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This post a follow up on: TSA 2017 Plan Facial Recognition At All US Airports Now Underway - Dulles International (VA) Begins -- Video 9-10-18 "Instead of pulling out their passports and handing over a boarding pass, travelers will instead have their faces scanned...then be matched with a collection of photos maintained by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency. -- U.S. citizens can opt out of being photographed, but non-U.S. citizens are required to have their pictures taken. Images of U.S. citizens are held for 12 hours and then discarded. Travelers who declined to have their faces scanned will have their identity confirmed manually..."  --- Interesting to note also Walmart recently installed new self-checkout machines in some stores that put a video of the customer on the screen while making the purchase. This obviously ties a photo to any debit or credit card information (as well all purchases made credit or cash) - photo and linked info no doubt then feeding into the overall ('beast') system now being created...
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Step up to the screen citizen. By way of 777-Trump EO. Opt-out option not to be made easy apparently. Stay tuned...

Rev. 18:4
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Romans 9:22 ' What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction...'

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