Leaked Document: Feds Launching 3 Biometric Experiments at US Customs Sputnik News
go to original March 20, 2015

Biometrics: the analysis of human body characteristics. The scanning of fingerprints, irises, or DNA.

Last week, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) quietly implemented a new program. Designed to help the agency catch anyone traveling under a false passport, the Apex Air Entry and Exit Re-Engineering (AEER) Project was installed in Washington’s Dulles airport. As creepy as it sounds, the “re-engineering” experiment takes photos of travelers and uses facial recognition software to see if the face matches the passport photo.

Civil liberties activists have already expressed their concerns.

...While the Dulles facial recognition program could target pretty much everyone entering the country through the capital’s major airport, the other procedures will focus largely on the movement of foreigners through airports and the US-Mexico border.

The second program is named the Biometric Exit Mobile Experiment, and is designed to “confirm with certainty that a foreign traveler has departed the United States.” Using what will likely be a fingerprint scanner, CBP officers at the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport will begin monitoring the movement of any foreign nationals leaving the country. Comparing the exit data with entry statistics, the CBP will see if an individual has overstayed their welcome.

The third experiment is known as the Pedestrian Biometric Experiment, and will begin its test stages at the Otay Mesa border station in San Diego. According to the documents, this project will test the efficiency of "facial and iris image capture," to "combat national security and public safety threats."

If these experiments prove efficient, Homeland Security could implement them on a broader scale, setting up biometric scanners in all major airports and border stations. The third experiment, in particular, could be advanced as a more practical solution to the country’s ever-present border concerns.

This would effectively allow the government to record the personal, biological data of every person entering and leaving the United States.

Read the rest at Sputnik News

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