DHS Scraps Planned Mandatory Facial Scans For American Travelers

[Swordsmyth]

The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency has reversed course on plans to submit Americans to compulsory biometric scans at airports across the country, following a wave of intense pushback to the privacy-eroding proposal.
“There are no current plans to require US citizens to provide photographs upon entry and exit from the United States,” a CBP spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday.
“CBP intends to have the planned regulatory action regarding US citizens removed from the unified agenda next time it is published.”


Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) has been another vocal opponent of the government’s use of biometrics, discussing new bipartisan legislation “designed to protect your privacy from unwarranted facial-recognition surveillance” in an address to the Brookings Institution on Thursday.

I enjoyed speaking at Brookings this morning with my friend Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE). We talked about our new legislation designed to protect your privacy from unwarranted facial-recognition surveillance. pic.twitter.com/FsD5fMIOsp (https://t.co/FsD5fMIOsp)
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) December 5, 2019 (https://twitter.com/SenMikeLee/status/1202676128873357314?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

Other lawmakers across the aisle have expressed similar concerns, with Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH) noting earlier this year that his office was working with top Democrats to draft “the right kind of legislation” to reign in the technology. Jordan is a ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, which itself has led some of the resistance to federal face scans.

More at: https://www.infowars.com/dhs-scraps-planned-mandatory-facial-scans-for-american-travelers/

[jmdrake]

Glad to hear that. I didn't know anyone was even paying attention.

[Zippyjuan]

Gotta protect "us" from "them"- whomever "them" are. Some on here argue that we need tighter security at border crossings to keep out "undesirables".

[Swordsmyth]

Gotta protect "us" from "them"- whomever "them" are. Some on here argue that we need tighter security at border crossings to keep out "undesirables".

There are good ways to increase border/immigration security and bad ways, this was a bad way.

[donnay]

At least someone is paying attention.

[Anti Globalist]

Good to hear.

[Working Poor]

I have not entered an airport since before the patriot act passed and TSA started up their groping and scanning. My husband got mad at we because I would not travel by air but I refuse to voluntarily let them feel me up. Every time my H flew he was detained and missed several flights because of it and he was one of the cleanest guys I have ever known. He would do every thing to get to the airport to allow for being detained sometimes leaving up to 5 hours before his flight. F--- them and the people who put up with it.

[Swordsmyth]

Bump

[devil21]

REAL ID still there, which is a federal datebase of faces. If this is a real pushback and not a head-fake (no pun intended), they'll wait until next Congress to push the finer points through. The face scanning has been there already though. For those that haven't figured it out yet, they implement unconstitutional measures first then legislate it into legality (constitutional and legal are two different standards!! LEARN THIS) later whenever it's politically acceptable.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/airports-facial-recognition/index.html


(CNN) — Instead of scanning her boarding pass, the airport gate scanned her face.
In April 2019, traveler MacKenzie Fegan was left surprised and confused when she boarded a JetBlue flight from the United States to Mexico, without handing over her passport, or travel documents.
"There were plastic barricades across the front of each lane, I look to my right, and the gate opens," she tells CNN Travel. "I was like, 'What, just happened?' There was no boarding pass scan, nothing like that."
Before she'd even sat down on her airplane seat, Fegan, a New York-based journalist, fired off a Tweet to JetBlue, asking the airline to explain the process.
"Did facial recognition replace boarding passes, unbeknownst to me? Did I consent to this?" She wrote, clicking send.
About 10 minutes later, Fegan received a reply:
"You're able to opt out of this procedure, MacKenzie. Sorry if this made you feel uncomfortable," read the response.

more at link

Jefferson said something about attending to the inconveniences of too much liberty instead of the conveniences of too little....