It appears that Big Brother is rolling out another form of surveillance on American citizens. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) wants to scan the faces of all individuals leaving the U.S., even American citizens. This would be in addition to the already established biometric collection of foreign nationals entering the country.
The current measures on foreigners entering the country are in place to prevent foreigners from overstaying their visas. The same can’t be said about the proposed facial scan for American travelers, however.
The number of Americans traveling abroad in 2016 increased significantly as compared to 2015 – and with more Americans traveling to foreign countries, the new scans will potentially give the DHS a facial recognition database of more than 60 million U.S. citizens.
In a privacy impact assessment, the DHS flat out said that if you are afraid of having your biometric information collected, then you shouldn’t travel.
“The only way for an individual to ensure he or she is not subject to collection of biometric information when traveling internationally is to refrain from traveling,” says the document.
Not surprisingly, the idea has raised privacy concerns.
An attorney from the Americans Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) told Zdnet, “Facial recognition is the biometric most easily reused for surveillance purposes. It’s hard to take someone’s thumbprint without their knowledge or participation, but you can take a face print from 100 yards away, the government has the greatest power to search at the border.”
Others are concerned that the facial recognition technology will be installed at Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints, impacting non-international travelers as well.
It still remains to be seen when and if the facial scans will be implemented at all U.S. airports. Trials are underway in only six major US airports, including Boston, Atlanta, and New York’s Kennedy Airport.
