The end of privacy: Facial recognition tech at USA borders scans everyone who enters
Documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request reveal that, during a year-long test in 2016, researchers from Oak Ridge National Labs in Tennessee collected images and video of thousands of vehicles at two border crossings in Texas and Arizona. Because of the tests’ success, Customs and Border Protection will rolling it out on a larger scale this August. Dubbed the “Vehicle Face System,” the project tests brand-new camera technology that can capture multiple depths of field at once — just like Lytro, and other light-field cameras. That’s necessary since windshields, and other hindrances make getting a reliable scan of a driver or passenger very difficult with a single depth of field. The Vehicle Face System will compare these scans with pictures already on file (passport photos, visa applications, etc.), the system could, theoretically, detect any anomalies, or identify persons of interest who may require further scrutiny.