ACLU SUES FOR FACIAL RECOGNITION RECORDS AT U.S. AIRPORTS
April 6, 2020
On March 12, 2020, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a case against U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the TSA, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in New York federal court in an effort to force the agencies to turn over records on their use of facial recognition technology at airports and other U.S. points of entry.
The case is in response to the U.S. government’s refusal to turn over records that the ACLU had requested under the Freedom of Information Act. Specifically, the ACLU asked that the U.S. government be required to turn over records about its plans to further roll out facial surveillance at airports, about specifics of its government contracts dealing with the technology, and about its policies for how it acquires, processes and retains traveler data. The ACLU also wants records on how the U.S. government is analyzing the effectiveness of its facial recognition technology, which some academic studies have found to be less accurate in recognizing black or brown faces.
This issue has become important to privacy advocates as the U.S. government has been rapidly expanding its use of facial recognition technology at border crossings in recent years. Starting in January 2019, CBP began a program known as “biometric exit” that compares travelers’ face scans taken at the airport with photos already on file in federal databases. This program was operational in some form at 17 U.S. airports, including in Chicago, Boston and New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6622); Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6665), or Andy Orr (aorr@eckertsemans.com or 202-659-6625).
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