CBP explores new facial capture tech for border entry

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a Request for Information (RFI) for “on the move biometric facial capture” technology solutions that it can deploy at CBP Ports of Entry (POE) and other “high throughput border environment” entry points to confirm the identity of individuals seeking entry into the United States.

The goal of the solution CBP is intending to field at some point “is to implement a continuous flow of travelers to the greatest extent possible while maintaining the integrity of the CBP inspection process.” CBP said the fielding of this technology “will enable travelers to proceed in a continuous flow through high-throughput lanes using biometric facial capture to support risk-based segmentation of travelers.”

The facial images that will be captured by the technology solution CBP eventually purchases “will be passed to a CBP Traveler Verification Service (TVS) or other CBP system to be compared with flat two-dimensional travel document source photo(s) on file in government” databases that are accessed by CBP POE Field Operations agents manning primary and secondary inspection lanes.”

A person’s photo taken at a U.S. entry point is compared to images from previous CBP encounters, passports, visas, and other travel documents for the purpose of verifying a traveler’s identity and confirming the person is the true bearer of the travel documents that are presented.

TVS supports comprehensive biometric entry and exit procedures in the air, land, and sea environments through the CBP Biometric Entry-Exit Program, a facial biometric matching service that receives a temporary gallery of photographs, matches those photos against travel document photos and unique identifiers (UIDs) on file, verifies travelers’ identities, and responds within seconds with match results.

All travelers are subject to identity and document verification when entering and exiting the country. However, CBP only requires in-scope foreign nationals to have their pictures taken when entering the U.S. CBP does not require any travelers, including U.S. citizens, to have their photos taken when exiting the U.S.

CBP has a Congressional mandate to biometrically record all foreign nationals who enter and exit the U.S. Years of using biometric facial comparison technology “have demonstrated that [it] is the most secure, efficient, and cost-effective way to fulfill the Congressional mandate while protecting the privacy of all travelers,” the U.S. Department of Homeland Security says, adding, “Overall, the use of facial biometrics provides travelers with a secure, touchless process that modernizes air travel and supports travel recovery.”

CBP said the responses to its RFI “should meet a desired minimum threshold determined by CBP and meet technical and operational requirements.”

This RFI is solely for information, planning purposes, and market research only; it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP), Request for Quotation (RFQ), or a promise to issue an RFP or RFQ, and does not commit the government to contract for any supply or service. Not responding to the RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP or RFQ.

CBP is interested in capabilities that:

Capture facial images of travelers at speed while they are in motion (on the move and without the need for the traveler to stop) and sends images to internal CBP systems or directly to CBP’s TVS system for comparison against travel document source photo(s) on file in government holdings;
Receive a matching response from CBP’s system; and,
Include options for visual notification of the response from the CBP system to the CBP officer on duty.

CBP said it is not looking for matching and enrollment solutions, as those capabilities will be handled by CBP’s backend technology.

CBP said it “envisions a solution the meets the following requirements:”

Ensure image capture of travelers at speed;
Prevents capture of facial images of people outside of the designated capture area;
Prevents capture of non-live facial images, such as photographs on t-shirts or hats;
Eliminates duplicate images of the same traveler – only sends one captured facial image to CBP system;
Ensures all facial images of travelers in the designated capture area meet CBP’s Traveler Verification Service’s photo quality threshold required for biometric comparison;
Provide visual notification of biometric match or no-match results to the CBP officer for use in admissibility decision;
Provide visual notification of traveler results in the order in which travelers are approaching the CBP officer, including if the travelers have repositioned themselves since initial image capture;
Provides directional guidance to the traveler based on the response received from CBP systems;
Functions on a CBP network and is interoperable with CBP software systems;
Does not store images, including on local devices;
Ensures privacy regulations of travelers and non-travelers;
Compliant with cybersecurity requirements per the DHS Information Security Program for DHS sensitive systems and systems that process sensitive information for DHS;
Provides a user interface that clearly communicates traveler expectations to achieve a TVS quality photograph capture at walking speed;

CBP said the technological solution it is looking for will need to account for the following challenges and constraints:

Artificial lighting and variances in lighting;
Traveler’s facial occlusions (i.e. facial masks, glasses, hats, etc.);
Variances in travelers’ heights (i.e. children, travelers in wheelchairs, etc.);
The TVS photo gallery is comprised of two-dimensional photos;
The need to communicate a response to CBP for proper traveler segmentation.

Interested vendors should submit responses prior to 5:00 PM ET on September 12, 2024.