jkw76

Just done the same today at PHL, I probably beat your time but sort of stood there in a daze at how fast it worked.

N1120A

Data point at SAN. All the machines had the cameras. As you may know, SAN is one of the new one stop set ups where you get bags before seeing anyone from CBP. I was shocked how it instantly knew my face. My passport photo is 9 years old now.

CBP <redacted by moderator> at the desk, outside the regulations, demanded to know if we acquired anything abroad - not just in excess or that needs to be declared by regulation. I told him one bottle of booze and that I was reimporting 2-3 packs of gum I bought in the US. He laughed at me and I explained that his improper question was too open ended and I was concerned, as someone of Iranian descent, about mistreatment. I also told a supervisor this. Was a generally quick process, but look for them trying to ask trick questions.

televisor

And indeed I got the wrong category: WB even though I was on a tourist trip. Original checkin was with a European airline, connecting to a UA flight LHR-EWR. The first airline did ask for the usual US immigration stuff (address at destination) AND travel category (tourist or business). But at LHR United forces you to repeat the process in person, and it's possible they just assumed my category wrongly (they do ask for the address, but didn't ask for category).

Or, since my last trip was WB, perhaps CBP just assumed the same again. (My next trips will involve entering at SFO which I think still has the old system, so I can't test my theories much.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by samosa

Any idea if 2.0 resolves the issue with fingerprints for kids? Aka does it work for kids without biometrics ?

Photos are a "biometric". Can't answer the first question though.

QtownDave

Just went through this in PHL and it’s crazy fast. There was an agent there asking if we had anything to declare.

Is this all done just through facial recognition or is some info taken from the passport RFID chip? I never took my passport out of my backpack.

oliver2002

All facial. The chip inside your passport is shielded and cannot be read unless the cover is opened to display the biometric page.

QtownDave

Thanks. That's both amazing and a little scary.

EDIflyer

Certainly for UK passports they aren't shielded, but there range is very short hence why it certainly wouldn't be able to read it from in your pocket.

televisor

As others have already mentioned, that's not categorically true depending on who made the passport.

But perhaps the more useful thing to know is that for most passports, the payload is encrypted (the key is derived from data in the MRZ, which is why anyone can extract the data on the chip, but only if they get the right data first i.e. name/dob/expiry dates/passport number).

Either way, CBP already have plenty of data for most of us: the GE enrollment photo, passport photos for US citizens (I would be extremely surprised if they didn't use those), lots of border photos for the rest of us, and of course a photo every time you use the machine regardless of nationality (although those are generally of low quality / not necessarily covering your face).

It's a little odd, and disconcerting, that CBP are relying on webcams - compared to the setups used for E-gates around the world (which all rely on the photos stored in your passport's chip, and can be quite finicky despite elaborate lighting setups), but I suppose the set of people enrolled in GE is quite small, and the set of GE users using a specific airport is even smaller, which should reduce the chance of mixups.

QtownDave

The reason I was surprised that it was all facial is because the slip included not just my Passport info but also my flight number and overseas departure details.

And my picture wasn’t even straight on. I just said ok to the picture thinking it was good enough for whatever they use it for not realizing the true scope of it all.

EDIflyer

I guess through the APIS data feed they already know who is arriving at that airport within a certain timeframe (plus all the linked data), so when you reduce it down to that subset of the GE dataset it's a much smaller number to be working with...

TWA884

Folks,

Please keep in mind FlyerTalk Rule 5, Stay On Topic, when posting in this thread.

While some natural deviation from the subject matter is perfectly acceptable, please keep the focus of the discussion on experiences with Global Entry kiosks utilizing facial recognition technology.

Debating facial recognition privacy issues, biometric passport security issues and setups used elsewhere in the world belong in the Checkpoints and Borders Policy Debate forum, where we have several threads dealing with those topics.

Future off-topic messages will be summarily deleted without further notice.

Thank you for understanding,

TWA884
Travel Safety/Security co-moderator

sethb

MSP doesn't have the new system yet.

nrr

From the beginning of photos appearing on GE slips I've gotten just the top of my head; but since I return to the US from abroad 99% of the time in JFK (T8 or T4) the photo on GE slip was never an issue since CBP always asked to see pp photo anyway.
Today at JFK T4 I used a new 2.0 GE terminal and made an effort to center my face on the screen, if one is short it takes some effort, but I got it to work--no pp, no fingerprints, no questions to answer.^ The CBP agent who collected the slip did NOT ask to see pp--per Bob Dylan song "the times they are a-changing"

Repooc17

The agent asked to see my passport arriving on SQ26. It may be the timing, at 11am, T4 INTL arrival was really quite - agent wanted to do something; ditto AirTrain.

That said, 2.0 has been great. Usually it takes me about 5 minutes from deplane to landside, now I would save another 15 seconds

Btw, T4's sign for Global Entry (and crew) says to use G area - needs to be updated (to A area on the opposite end).

televisor

Checking in (online) for an LX flight to the US: I was asked for the usual Visa/ESTA, but was NOT asked for Business vs Tourist status

So clearly, airlines aren't mandated to provide this to the CBP for you, and it's a complete mystery how the CBP is deciding whether you are entering as WT or WB.

Practically this is probably of no relevance, after all the equivalent Visas (b-1/b-2) appear to be issued as a combined Visa for both purposes (although technically WB is still more broad). You could go to a deferred inspection centre to correct it, but I'd be surprised if they cared.

Now, all the reports in this thread seem to be of people getting WB only, i.e. getting WB even when they were going for tourist reasons. Historically, you were still allowed to undertake touristic activities while on a business Visa (and by corollary while on WB), so if WB is the default that is probably better than if WT were the default.