The measures are part of an executive order President Donald Trump issued in March 2017 calling to expedite the use of facial recognition for “100 percent of all international passengers”—including American citizens—in the top 20 U.S. airports by 2021. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is now rushing to implement this system to meet Trump’s timeline, though without proper vetting and regulation, according to BuzzFeed News. CBP did not say whether there were usage guidelines for tech companies that would be processing the data. The agency told BuzzFeed News that it has limited participating companies from using the data themselves, but it hasn’t shared the extent to which it’s done so. (BuzzFeed News)

Talking point: The documents, produced by the Department of Homeland Security and CBP,  suggest CBP didn’t properly solicit public feedback before approving the new technology. This is a key concern for privacy advocates because facial recognition tech currently has inaccuracy and bias issues disproportionately affecting people of colour. An Office of Inspector General audit found that only 85 per cent of passengers processed were accurately identified; matching a person’s face to their identity was inconsistent for certain age groups and nationalities, including Mexican and Canadian citizens.