Our exclusive US Member Meeting was attended by over 60 Institute members who discussed major issues around the proposed bans for facial recognition technology under the Chatham House Rule.

The meeting welcomed several key stakeholders as guests who made outstanding contributions to the conversation from a European perspective.

Thanks to our moderator Robert Mocny, Advisory Group Member, Biometrics Institute and excellent panel of speakers:

• Diane Sabatino, Deputy Executive Assistant Commissioner for CBP Field Operations, U.S. Department of Homeland Security – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
• Arun Ross, Professor, Cillag Endowed Chair, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Michigan State University
• Lisa MacDonald, Director, Identity Capabilities Management Division, Office of Biometric Identity Management, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
• Pam Dixon, Executive Director, World Privacy Forum

As the Biometrics Institute enters its 20th year, having been established pre-9/11 to promote the responsible and ethical use of biometrics, we will engage in even more active communication and education on biometrics with the support of our members. Over the years our biometrics community has conducted much testing around facial recognition technology which has shown that biometrics have become a reliable way to identify people quickly and efficiently.

Touchless technology is important in the context of rebuilding travel as we emerge from COVID-19.

Threats from hostile states, terrorists and serious criminals have demonstrated that the technology has an important role to play in national security and border management.

Automation has helped to improve manual processes, making them more efficient and secure. This same knowledge will allow the biometrics industry to seek and remedy vulnerabilities, as well as enable us to prevent new attacks by producing better products and services.

One challenge we are facing as an industry is that while we can quantify performance, we are still discussing how to quantify privacy. There was a reminder also in our US member meeting of the importance of the human in the loop, not leaving the final decision to a machine.

These discussions will continue at this year’s Institute Congress held throughout the biometrics month of October. More details and how to register can be found on the Congress 2021 event page.