Unisys technology is helping the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency to conduct is biometric screening trial at the Otay Mesa border crossing between San Diego and Tijuana, the company has announced.
The project, launched late last year, is meant to test the viability of using biometric technology to effectively screen and track non-US citizens entering and leaving the country, partially as a means of combatting domestic terrorism. The screening involves kiosks employing iris scanning and facial recognition systems, with biometric technology also having been provided by Iris ID.
Explaining Unisys’ involvement in a statement, the VP of the company’s homeland security arm, Amy Rall, said that “Unisys worked with CBP to develop a border security solution designed to identify visa overstays and persons of interest, as well as improve reporting and analysis of international visitors,” adding that the project offers a means to “better track who is entering the country, why they are here, and how long they stay.”
The current phase of the project, which added the dimension of scanning outbound travelers to the inbound traveler scanning already in place, is expected to run until May of this year, after which the CBP will assess its success and make determinations about future expansion.
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March 10, 2016 – by Alex Perala
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