U.S. homeland security abandons plan for face scans for U.S. citizens

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

U.S. DECEMBER 5, 2019 / 12:56 PM / UPDATED 10 HOURS AGO

U.S. homeland security abandons plan for face scans for U.S. citizens

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration said Thursday it no longer plans to propose a regulation next year that would require all travelers - including U.S. citizens - to be photographed when entering or leaving the United States.

The proposed regulation was slated to be issued in July by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as part of the Trump administration’s regulatory agenda. The agency said Thursday after consulting Congress and privacy experts it would not move forward. “There are no current plans to require U.S. citizens to provide photographs upon entry and exit from the United States. CBP intends to have the planned regulatory action regarding U.S. citizens removed from the unified agenda next time it is published,” the agency said.

Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat, credited public pressure with the decision, which he called “a victory for every single American traveler who flies on a plane.”

Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-privacy/u-s-homeland-security-abandons-plan-for-face-scans-for-u-s-citizens-idUSKBN1Y92BT

[VMA131Marine]

1. This would have been difficult to impossible to implement

You don’t go through a passport checkpoint when leaving the country because national and international flights leave from the same terminals. It would have required a major infrastructure change at US airports to separate out international passengers to take all their pictures.