MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami International Airport has a new touchless technology to screen foreign arrivals just in time for the holiday travel season. Instead of photos and fingerprints, immigration authorities will collect precise facial measurements as proof of identity.
Daniel Alonso, CBP’s acting director of field operations, said this pandemic makes the need for a secure touchless travel experience even more critical now. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked Americans on Thursday to avoid holiday season travel.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced on Friday that the Department of Homeland Security is expanding its facial biometric database to help automate the entry-exit screenings of non-U.S. citizens at air, land, and seaports of entry.
According to Diane J. Sabatino, CBP’s deputy executive assistant commissioner of field operations, implementing the new technology that will be used during the inspection process involves public-private partnerships. Alonso said the database is hosted in a secure cloud-based environment.
U.S. citizens who have privacy concerns can opt-out and go through the traditional process which will take a little longer.