I will never travel to the U.S. again...welcome to your police state

[OnlinePoker]

There Is No Good Reason for the Government to Scan People’s Faces as They Leave the Country

Last week, the Department of Homeland Security briefed privacy advocates in San Francisco concerning its misguided plan to subject all international travelers to face scans at airports. Those at the briefing asked questions that should have been easy to answer: Why are airport face scans necessary? Is DHS’s technology accurate? When will DHS adopt public rules explaining what the program is, how it works, and how it will protect Americans’ privacy? But DHS had few responses—and that’s alarming.
Biometric exit is a massive—and massively expensive—solution in search of a problem.

Currently, DHS’s biometric exit program scans travelers at international departure gates at 11 U.S. airports and collects their biometric data (a fingerprint or face print). This includes both American citizens and foreign visitors, and DHS plans to expand the program to all of the country’s international airports within four years. In 2017, President Trump issued an executive order speeding up the implementation of biometrics at the border, and immigration reform legislation this year could include money to expand the current program.

Rather than bringing biometric exit to more airports, though, Congress should repeal the program altogether. It’s invasive, ineffective, and unnecessary. In short: It’s a billion-dollar boondoggle.

https://slate.com/technology/2018/01/dhss-misguided-plan-to-expand-face-scans-for-people-leaving-the-country.html

[lindysalsagal]

1. Holy. Crap.

I just emailed my congressman.

[sunonmars]

2. its common practice at pratically every airport in Europe.

Biometric passports are quick and efficient and cuts long queues. I also have a British biometric passport, had one for many years, so so fast.

[meadowlander]

4. They've been doing it for years in Asia and Australia as well.

Having gone through a full boy scanner that can see under your clothes, I'm not sure why taking a picture of your face is considered unacceptably invasive.

If my family didn't still live in the states, I would have stopped going after they introduced the scanners. I already try to minimise the trips.

[sunonmars]

5. and when in those countries, especially UK, you can literally get through immigration in seconds

you don't need grilled by the border control and just walk through the gate.

[meadowlander]

6. It's not like anyone would be able to identify me anyway

based on a black and white photo taken coming off a 30 hour plane trip.

[deurbano]

11. I hope not, anyway! Eek! If I really look like those photos...

[localroger]

14. The theory is that they can

...and there is some reason to think it's not total BS. Machine facial recognition isn't about the kind of things we look for to identify each other visually, it's about markers like distance between the eyes, relationship between that line and the nose, width and distance to the mouth, and relationship to the outline of the face. These are things that can't be obscured by makeup and which are observable even in bad photographs. I have my doubts as to how reliable this idea is in a database with billions of entries but the basic idea isn't totally stupid.

[deurbano]

13. My son had to get a biometric card as he began university in the UK last fall.

Then, he couldn't find it when he was re-entering England to return to university after winter break (apparently, it's only needed to enter, not exit the UK)... but thankfully, they let him in, anyway. (We would have faced a very expensive situation with extremely negative logistical ramifications, otherwise.) He found it on the top book shelf in his college room, even though he was supposed to have entirely vacated the room during break. Our friend's daughter realized the card was missing while she was still in the U.S. (on a break last year), and she was told it had to be replaced before she could re-enter the UK... but maybe once you actually arrive without it, they are more accommodating?

[democratisphere]

3. Yep. RFID will be required in all humans next.

Every move you make, every breath you take, they'll be watching you.

[sunonmars]

7. what do you think mobile phones, CCTV do......?

[OnlinePoker]

8. One of the reasons I don't have a mobile phone

Aside from the fact that I don't need one.

[democratisphere]

9. We are all guilty until proven innocent.

[Angry Dragon]

10. KICK

[djacq]

12. Im still waiting for my mandated implanted chip