Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) efforts to develop and implement a biometric exit capability is being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of the Inspector General (IG) to “assess whether biometric data collected at [CBP] pilot locations has improved DHS’s ability to verify departures” in order to secure and manage US borders, the IG announced.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) had noted in its February 27, 2017 audit report, DHS Has Made Progress in Planning for a Biometric Air Exit System and Reporting Overstays, but Challenges Remain, that, “As CBP is in the process of finalizing its approach, it is too early to assess the agency’s plans for developing and implementing a biometric exit capability and the extent to which those plans will address identified challenges.”

DHS stated it is using a biometric verification system to confirm the departure of selected travelers at one airport and released its 2016 overstays report in late February 2017, according to GAO, which reported on CBP’s progress in its 2017 audit report. But the IG’s office has now gotten involved to investigate CBP’s problems with the program.

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The program makes boarding an international flight a breeze: Passengers step up to the gate, get their photo taken and proceed onto the plane. There is no paper ticket or airline app. Thanks to facial recognition technology, their face becomes their boarding pass.

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And even though the program is run by the Department of Homeland Security, federal officials say they have placed no limits on how participating companies — mostly airlines but also cruise lines — can use that data or store it, opening up travelers’ most personal information to potential misuse and abuse such as being sold or used to track passengers’ whereabouts. The data the airlines collect is used to verify the identity of passengers leaving the country, an attempt by the department to better track foreigners who overstay their visas. After passengers’ faces are scanned at the gate, the scan is sent to Customs and Border Protection and linked with other personally identifying data, such as date of birth and passport and flight information.

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“Are there privacy protections in the contracts that D.H.S. has reached with the airlines?” Mr. Rudolph said in an interview. “Do they require the disposal of any data collected? Do they require audits? Are there use limitations to ensure that travelers’ photos aren’t used in ways they don’t expect? Without any enforceable rules, it’s too easy for D.H.S. to break those promises.”

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The line to board one of British Airways’ evening flights to London from Orlando International Airport was long. Nearly 250 passengers — some retirees, business people and families who had visited amusement parks — inched toward what looked like a futuristic subway turnstile, following a gate attendant’s instructions to “step on the yellow footprint and just look directly at the camera for me."

Passenger after passenger approached a small camera that snapped a photo and, using biometrics — or measurements of facial features — matched the image against passport photo data on file with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Once the software gave confirmation of the match, the passengers stepped through the gate and proceeded onto the plane.

“It’s much faster than having to look in the passports and documents, especially when it’s a family traveling,” said Souad Amedjahdi, who has handled boarding for British Airways for the past two years. She estimated that the facial technology cuts the boarding time from the usual 45 minutes to about 25 minutes, which she said helps the airline company.

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers on Wednesday say they successfully used facial comparison technology to stop a traveler posing as a French citizen at Washington Dulles International Airport.

CBP said in a press release that the technology alerted airport staff that the 26-year-old did not match the passport he presented while traveling to Sao Paulo, Brazil. After stopping the traveler to conduct further interviews, agents noted his behavior changed "and he became visibly nervous," CBP said.

A further search found that the man had an authentic ID card in his shoe showing he was actually from the Republic of Congo, not France.

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The 26-year-old man arrived Wednesday on a flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil, and presented a French passport to the customs officer, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Using the new facial comparison biometric system, the officer determined the unidentified traveler did not match the passport he presented.

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The 30-day pilot program, a partnership between the Transportation Security Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, is one of several new efforts by the two federal security agencies to use state-of-the-art technology to speed up and bolster the airport screening process.

Under the program, cameras snap photos of travelers as they prepare to be screened for international flights out of LAX. The photos are optional now but may be mandatory for foreign nationals if the technology is retained after the test. The cameras use facial recognition technology to match up the faces of departing travelers with data collected by government agencies of each foreign national who enters the country.

The technology, according to customs officials, helps quickly identify foreign travelers who may be wanted for crimes, visa violations or attempting to use phony passports. The cameras are being used at four security lanes at the terminal.

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