Customs and Border Protection is expanding its use of biometric iris recognition

Customs and Border Protection continues to expand the use of biometric iris recognition at national borders, a notable move given the technology’s somewhat limited use compared to more widespread applications such as fingerprint and facial recognition.

The US Border Patrol, the CBP subunit responsible for securing the border, has significantly expanded its use of iris scanners over the last decade. In the fourth quarter of this fiscal year, nearly 69% of arrests facilitated by CBP involved an iris scan, an agency official familiar with the program told FedScoop. Now CBP hopes to get closer to 100%, the person said.

Currently, some of the agency’s computer systems are not equipped with the cameras needed for iris scans. In other cases, a Border Patrol agent may have the option to skip the iris scan image on their computer system. To increase adoption, the agency plans to send out a software update later this month that will require an iris scan to be performed in these encounters, the person said.

Forty checkpoints in four regional sectors have iris biometrics, a CBP spokesperson told FedScoop, adding that 8,000 identifications were made using the technology along with fingerprints last fiscal year.

“Iris scanners are just one part of our biometric collection, as is the collection of fingerprints and facial comparison photos,” said the spokesperson, who also cited a 2017 data protection impact assessment. “Iris biometrics helps us confirm identities where fingerprint matches are not possible or where match discrepancies exist due to fingerprint degradation.”

The CBP spokesperson also confirmed that the agency has tested iris recognition within its Office of Field Operation, a separate component that manages official ports of entry such as airports.

“U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations conducted a limited field study of iris biometrics using three collection methods, including on-the-go, stop and look, and kiosks, and chose to proceed with facial and fingerprint biometrics only. “ “CBP no longer collects iris biometrics at POEs,” the CBP spokesperson said.

In a current analysis of data protection thresholds, the use of biometric data, in particular the taking of a “photo”, is mentioned. A collection of biometric data, the document says, could be incorporated into Uniform Processing, a CBP system designed to standardize aspects of both the Office of Field Operations and the Border Patrol. The document does not specifically mention Iris technology.

Another person familiar with the Border Patrol program — but not authorized to speak about it publicly — said biometric iris recognition was used throughout the CBP component. The appeal of iris recognition is that the identifier is more stable over a person’s life, they said. According to several sources, the agency may come across people whose fingerprints have faded because, for example, they work with cleaning chemicals or because they carry out manual work. However, in some cases, it could be that someone intentionally burned off their fingerprint, several people told FedScoop.

Patrick Grother, who studies biometric technology at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, explained: “Facial recognition is based on learning from huge amounts of data. Originally, iris recognition was not done this way. The original research examined images of the iris and wrote down a set of algorithms – as a set of procedures in mathematics – that would promise good recognition. That came true and an industry was built around it.”

Iris technology is powerful enough to distinguish between identical twins. However, accuracy can still be affected by the quality of a photo, the extent to which someone opens their eyes and people with certain eye-related health problems, Grother added. Certain Iris technologies are proprietary to the vendors, meaning NIST does not have immediate access to them.

The technology should not be called artificial intelligence or confused with retina-based recognition, he said.

The Iris technology used by CBP is sold by a company called Iris ID, which sources say is considered a leader in the field. The company is developing special cameras that deliver monochrome near-infrared light that can illuminate the iris – a capability not included in a typical webcam camera, Tim Meyerhoff, the company’s director, told FedScoop.

Iris recognition has been used in CBP for about a decade, according to sources and privacy documents released by the Department of Homeland Security. Documents from 2016 obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center also reveal aspects of the program and show that the Office of Field Operations actually tested the technology.

Proponents of the technology say it is crucial to operations at the border and can help catch people who are deliberately trying to avoid detection in security databases and enter the US – although as with all technology, privacy experts warn of risks . Civil society and immigrant rights groups often raise concerns about the misuse of this technology.

“What we want to prevent with Iris is the same thing that happened with Social Security numbers. It was used for everything. Now everyone’s Social Security number is available on the dark web,” Jake Wiener, an attorney at EPIC, told FedScoop. “I think the iris is the last biometric that hasn’t been broken in this way.”

Compared to facial recognition, the risks may be limited because iris images cannot be compared to images collected across much of the Internet and other cameras, Wiener added. “It’s easier to use and easier to automate, whereas iris recognition requires more hands-on work because you have to get a person’s eye very close to the camera,” he said.

Although iris biometric recognition is still less common than other forms of biometric recognition, its use is increasing. For example, Iris ID works with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and CLEAR Biometrics and also helps with border crossings in some Middle Eastern countries. Meyerhoff says the company does not store iris data itself, but can provide cameras and back-end technology for identification.