Face recognition at airport criticized as legal grounds are ambiguous

It attempts to identify the person to leave from the airport in the face authentication has been performed in some of the airports of the United States, in 2018 we plan to expand the same system on a nationwide scale. However, a system for face authentication departure person in addition to the legal basis does not obtain the approval of the parliament is ambiguous, the report of the technical and there is a problem have been published.

Face Scans at Airport Departure Gates: An Investigation
https://www.airportfacescans.com/

Homeland Security's controversial airport face-scanners could be inaccurate or unlawful, report says - The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/21/16805266/dhs-face-scanning-biometric-exit-report

Face Scanners Do not Belong in Airports
https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewfeeney2/2017/12/21/face-scanners-dont-belong-in-airports/

In the US, as of December 2017, we are doing face authentication of passengers leaving Japan at nine airports.United States Department of Homeland Security(DHS) explains why the face authentication was experimentally introduced to prevent "trying to leave other people's passport by using passport", and after 2018 introduces the introduction of face recognition system to other airports We also intend to expand.

This is the airport face recognition system.


A man standing in front of the scanner and waiting for authentication before boarding an airplane.


However, Georgia Town'sCenter on Privacy & TechnologyHe submitted a report criticizing face authentication at the airport. Whether DHS could introduce face authentication without Congressional approval remains questionable and pointed out that the legal basis is unclear. It also clarified the fact that the authorities have not taken appropriate Federal procedures when preparing the program.

Also, it is known that the accuracy of face authentication technology is not perfect, but it shows different error rates depending on race and sex. According to past studies, the probability of accidentally refusing white men and especially white men and the high probability of mistakenly accepting women, especially black women. Therefore, it is possible that someone who has an appropriate passport refuses to board and, on the contrary, boarding is possible despite having a fake passport.

In this regard, the report also refers to the question whether DHS correctly measures the effect of introducing face recognition. DHS says that the program recognizes correct passengers with 96% accuracy, but "the probability of catching a wrong passenger" is not disclosed.

It is concerned not only that it takes the risk that "even a correct passenger is rejected" but also from the viewpoint of privacy.

UPDATE 1 - U. S. Senators seek to stop expansion of airport facial scans
https://in.reuters.com/article/usa-airports-security/update-1-u-s-senators-seek-to-stop-expansion-of-airport-facial-scans-idINL1N1OL1VF

Sen. Mike Lee seeks to halt face scans at U. S. airports | Deseret News
https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900006156/sen-mike-lee-seeks-to-halt-face-scans-at-us-airports.html

DHS explained that "Images used for face authentication will not be stored for more than two weeks", but Republican senator Mike Lee and Democratic senator Edward Markey are DHS secretary President Kirsten Nielsen I sent a letter to the aide that the program should not be expanded nationwide until privacy and legal issues are resolved. In addition to that there are no way for two lawmakers to prevent the data used for face authentication from passing to third parties and foreign governments, many American citizens suffer inconvenience due to misidentification of face recognition system The concern and, in the first place, why the letter asked why face authentication is necessary for the departure of Americans.

The move to introduce technologies such as face authentication and fingerprint authentication at departure is also advanced in Australia.

Australia is promoting a plan to substitute face authentication & fingerprint scan for passport - GIGAZINE