Biometrics

IRS Testing Behavioral Analytics to Verify Online Users

The agency is piloting a proof-of-concept that will track how individual taxpayers interact with its online systems.

  • By Aaron Boyd

I Researched Uighur Society in China for 8 Years and Watched How Technology Opened New Opportunities – Then Became a Trap

The Muslim ethnic minority must carry their smartphones or risk being detained.

  • By Darren Byler, The Conversation

An Inside Look at All the Data CBP Collects About Everyone Crossing U.S. Borders

The agency is putting more data in the cloud and integrating more of its collection efforts.

  • By Aaron Boyd

The Intelligence Community is Exploring Long-Range Biometric Identification 

A new IARPA program aims to build biometric technology that can identify people using cameras stationed on far off rooftops and unmanned aircraft.

  • By Jack Corrigan

Study: More than Half of Americans Trust Law Enforcement to Use Facial Recognition Responsibly

Pew Research Center’s study is the latest to conclude Americans are growing more comfortable with having their faces scanned.

  • By Frank Konkel

TSA Launches Facial Recognition Pilot at Las Vegas Airport 

The agency will assess how the tech verifies travelers’ live facial images against pictures taken from travelers’ identity documents.

  • By Brandi Vincent

DHS is Collecting Biometrics on Thousands of Refugees Who Will Never Enter the U.S.

Most refugees who apply for asylum in the U.S. never set foot in the country, but under an agreement with the United Nations, DHS and its partners can still build biometric profiles on them.

  • By Jack Corrigan

Facial Recognition Software Prompts Privacy, Racism Concerns in Cities and States

Some lawmakers are proposing to limit its use even as law enforcement officials and landlords are embracing it.

  • By The Pew Charitable Trusts

CBP Plans to Use Facial Recognition For ‘All Passenger Applications’

The agency is ramping up its use of biometric identification technology as part of a broader effort to overhaul its traveler processing systems.

  • By Jack Corrigan

Senators Urge Homeland Security to Release Mandated Report on its Use of Biometrics

Lawmakers say its delay raises concerns about the Homeland Security Department's continued collection of facial recognition data.

  • By Brandi Vincent

The Hidden Challenges in Police Use of Facial Recognition Technology

The Orlando Police Department ended its pilot program involving facial recognition technology this month, saying the agency was unable to devote the necessary resources to the program.

  • By Andrea Noble

How Facial Recognition is Changing CBP Operations

The tech is freeing up Customs and Border Protection employees—once they learned to trust it.

  • By Brandi Vincent

FaceApp Is Everyone’s Problem

It feels good to call out people for being duped by the Russian app, but the individualist framing of privacy is the bigger culprit.

  • By Sidney Fussell, The Atlantic

Army Goggles Will Feature Facial Recognition Tech ‘Very Soon’

A modified gamer headset will allow soldiers to see through a drone’s eyes, aim around corners, and identify the faces of enemies in their sights.

  • By Patrick Tucker, Defense One

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Experts Tell Congress Facial Recognition’s Bias Problem May Be Here to Stay

Despite significant improvements in the tech’s overall performance, he said, “it’s unlikely” researchers will ever make systems equally accurate across racial and other demographic lines.

  • By Jack Corrigan

ICE and the Ever-Widening Surveillance Dragnet

ICE agents have used facial-recognition technology on state driver’s-license photos, turning a public database into a de facto criminal database.

  • By Sidney Fussell, The Atlantic

You No Longer Own Your Face

Students were recorded for research—and then became part of a data set that lives forever online, potentially accessible to anyone.

  • By Sidney Fussell, The Atlantic

Survey: Many Americans Support Facial Recognition in Airports

Though some think it’s invasive, a new survey suggests attitudes about the emerging tech might be improving.

  • By Brandi Vincent

DHS to Move Biometric Data on Hundreds of Millions of People to Amazon Cloud

The department seeks a new platform to identify people using fingerprints, irises and faces, and eventually DNA, palm prints, scars and tattoos.

  • By Jack Corrigan

Survey: U.S. Air Travelers Approve of Biometric Identification

A large majority of respondents said they are willing to give up their biometric data—when they perceive a security benefit.

  • By Brandi Vincent

CBP Says Thousands of Traveler Photos Stolen in ‘Malicious Cyber-Attack’

The breach happened at one of the agency’s subcontractors and didn’t involve any data collected under its facial recognition program, officials said.

  • By Jack Corrigan