The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is getting ready to expand the US Customs and Border Protection agency’s biometric border screening program, and to that end has issued a Request for Information (RFI) on biometric exit solutions.
The move appears to be the product, at least in part, of the CBP’s trial project at the Otay Mesa border between the US and Mexico. That program initially scanned the biometric information of only those non-US citizens entering the country, and expanded earlier this year to apply biometric scanning to those leaving the country, as well. Meanwhile, biometric screening trials at a couple of major airports may also have been factors motivating the RFI issuance. In any case, the DHS is evidently curious to work more with industry in finding solutions for its Biometric Exit Program.
In a statement, Secure Identity & Biometrics Association (SIBA) CEO Michael Dougherty predicted that “DHS will see a significant response to the RFI from industry” —a reasonable forecast, given enthusiastic private sector support seen so far in the CBPs biometric screening trials. Industry responses are due July 1st, and SIBA has announced that it will help to foster dialogue with an Identity and Biometrics Innovations Forum on June 29th, which will take place in the Reagan Building in Washington.
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June 23, 2016 – by Alex Perala
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