U.S. Customs & Border Protection's John Wagner talks:
- Pilot programs with airlines
- Privacy implications
- Timing
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is investigating whether forthcoming
biometric facial scans for departing foreign travelers could speed up other
airport processes, like Transportation Security Administration checks, baggage
tagging, lounge entry and even duty-free purchases. The agency will introduce facial
scanning in 2018 to reduce the need for fingerprinting on arrival. BTN
contributing editor Amon Cohen quizzed CBP deputy executive assistant
commissioner John Wagner on these developments and the Global Entry expedited
entry program.
BTN: Is your biometrics program intended to ensure people who are
supposed to leave the country actually leave, or about visa overstays?
Wagner: Both. In the mid-2000s we changed the arrivals process to take
fingerprints and a photograph. We never built the departures component, most
notably because our airports were never set up to have a segregated departure
controls area. CBP took this mission on from other parts of Homeland Security a
couple of years ago. We settled on a process using facial recognition that compares
a live photo to a photo already submitted to the government for the purposes of
travel.
BTN: Where would the photo be taken?
Wagner: At any place you already stop today to hand your passport over to
show your identity and conduct a required transaction.
BTN: You've been piloting this process with carriers. How's it going?
Wagner: We've piloted with Delta and JetBlue. We've seen good accuracy and
reliability of information and ease of use for us and travelers. This could
also serve as a platform to drive innovation throughout the entire airport
experience. Since we have to build this by legislative mandate for the purpose
of biometric exit, we asked if we could we use the same data for other places
within the airport where you have to show your passport, for example the Transportation
Security Administration checkpoint or airline services like tagging your
checked baggage or maybe access to a lounge or duty-free store.
There are privacy implications to work through, but our discussion
with carriers and airports is about whether an environment based on facial
recognition for some nonrequired components would be an interest and convenient. We think airlines will be able to
improve some of their services. If we can link this to the airline boarding
process, then it's not a two-stop boarding process where travelers have to
present their boarding pass and then see the CBP officer. What we're piloting
with JetBlue in Boston is that they take the picture when you go to board the
plane, they send that to us, we validate it, the green light comes on and you
board without actually presenting your boarding pass or your phone, and it
takes two or three seconds.
BTN: Do you see a way to work out the data privacy issues you mentioned,
or might some be insurmountable—for example, for visitors from the European
Union?
Wagner: There are certainly privacy needs to address, especially if we are
going to use this technology for services not required by law or regulation. We
have been discussing with privacy authorities in the U.S. how we would we go
about it. A lot of it is advising people what choice they have, where the data
goes if they choose to participate, where is it stored, who it is shared with,
how long there is access to it. And will they have an option? So there is a lot
of visibility we have to provide. I don't think it's insurmountable. We're not
collecting new data because it's comparing with what you've already given us.
We just want to use that data to make it more convenient to travel in and out
of the airport.
BTN: What's your best guess about time lines?
Wagner: We're piloting a handful of places right now. The results are very
encouraging. I would say that in calendar year 2018, you are going to see us in
conjunction with some airports and airlines rolling out additional uses of biometrics.
BTN: Does it matter if this technology rolls out piecemeal at different
airports?
Wagner: That doesn't matter ... but what we are hoping for is consistency. We
don't want conflicting systems where it's even more complex to get from the curb
to the gate or vice versa: You have to give your fingerprints here, a piece of
paper here, your passport here, your picture here. Let's figure out a way to
link them all. In an ideal situation, it's easier for the traveler to get through
all the required steps as a good person but impossible for a bad person to get
through.
We're also going to use facial-recognition technology in the
arrivals process. We piloted [last month] in Atlanta on a couple of flights to
see how it would work. If we can match you to your photograph and we've already
got your fingerprints on file, we're not going to have to take them again
BTN: How imminent is biometric arrivals?
Wagner: I expect we would start to roll out in summer 2018. We have to
figure out if we still have a need for kiosks. I think we'll be able to phase
out the whole kiosk process. We're also going to make Global Entry even
quicker. We are working on just taking your picture and you walking out the
door without stopping at a kiosk.
BTN: What progress are you making with extending reciprocal arrangements
between Global Entry and the expedited traveler programs of other countries?
Wagner: We have just added Taiwan and India before that.
BTN: That's 14 countries. Are more in the pipeline?
Wagner: I'm not aware of any imminent at this point.
BTN: Does this signal there are barriers preventing more countries from
getting involved?
Wagner: I don't think that's the case. It's more the levels of the
countries we have in the program already, the requirements for the background
checks and the vetting and a question of whether a government wants to provide
that for access to the U.S. for their citizens.