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- Aug 20, 2006
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The DHS has announced a new biometrics program that will see facial recognition scanners installed at major airports. Critics are saying that the hardware, which will cost $1 billion in taxpayer funding, doesn’t even work all that well: thousands of people could be flagged as potential criminals due to the cameras’ error rates.
DHS’ biometric exit program also stands on shaky legal ground. Congress has repeatedly ordered the collection of biometrics from foreign nationals at the border but has never clearly authorized the border collection of biometrics from American citizens using face recognition technology. Without explicit authorization, DHS should not be scanning the faces of Americans as they depart on international flights—but DHS is doing it anyway.
DHS’ biometric exit program also stands on shaky legal ground. Congress has repeatedly ordered the collection of biometrics from foreign nationals at the border but has never clearly authorized the border collection of biometrics from American citizens using face recognition technology. Without explicit authorization, DHS should not be scanning the faces of Americans as they depart on international flights—but DHS is doing it anyway.