GOOD: Trump Administration Drops Plans For Mandatory Face Scans of Citizens.
The agency has been testing facial recognition screening at several airports, though U.S. citizens and permanent residents are currently allowed to opt out.
At airports, officials take photos of travelers and a computer then compares them to the traveler’s passport image or other photos that the agency stores in the cloud. In some places, screening technology is used during the boarding process for nonresidents departing the U.S.
The technology has also been tested at seaports and border crossings, including on the southern border.
But privacy advocates have pointed to a June data breach as one of the reasons that the agency should not collect the information. DHS last summer acknowledged a cyberattack against a contractor that exposed the photos and license plates of nearly 100,000 people traveling in and out of the country at a border crossing.
It’s nice not to follow China’s footsteps on this one.