New Tech Leads To First Arrest

An impersonator was apprehended with the help of face recognition technology; he was attempting to enter the country with a fake passport, which would have been applicable for most people. The arrest occurred at Washington Dulles International Airport, Thursday.

This was only the third day of the technology being used.
The culprit was a 26-year old man and he was traveling from Sao Paulo, Brazil, on a plain.

According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), he showed the customs officer a French passport. By utilizing the facial comparison technology, it was revealed that picture on the passport did not match the culprits.

In addition to finding out that the passport was false, they also found an identification card from the Republic of Congo under the culprits shoe. As a result of this new arrest, 14 airports are testing this technology, which includes Dulles. They start testing it on Monday.

The system uses facial algorithms to compare physical characteristics against photos that are on visas, passports and other sources. The cameras have 99 percent accuracy rate. However, many individuals fear that this may be an invasion of privacy.

“You can much more accurately identify who an individual is. You can much more rapidly speed them through processes,” said David Heyman, a former assistant secretary with the Department of Homeland Security during the Obama administration.