EPIC’s Jeramie Scott to Testify to Congress on CBP’s Use of Facial Recognition Technology

July 27, 2022

Jeramie Scott, EPIC Senior Counsel and Director of EPIC’s Project on Surveillance Oversight, will testify this afternoon at a U.S. House of Representatives hearing on CBP’s use of facial recognition technology.

“CBP has implemented one of the largest deployments of facial recognition technology in the country through its Biometric Entry-Exit program,” Scott submitted in his written testimony, despite studies showing the technology is “flawed” and imbued with racial bias. The “use of facial recognition identification” in the Biometric Entry-Exit program “puts the U.S. on a path towards a ubiquitous and universal form of identification” that eliminates a person’s ability to choose “when to identify themselves or not.” CBP has also “failed . . . to provide a reasonable justification for the expansion” of the program, and the agency lacks the legal authorization to collect biometric data from U.S. citizens. Scott recommended that CBP end its use of facial recognition technology, and, at a minimum, for Congress to implement restrictions on CBP’s use of the technology to mitigate risks to privacy and civil liberties.  

EPIC has long advocated against government use of facial recognition technology. Most recently, EPIC submitted comments to CBP criticizing its proposal to collect photos from undocumented individuals and store those photos in a records system that uses facial recognition technology.   

Watch the hearing at 2PM ET here.

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