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mated systems may be susceptible to illegal or discriminatory practices dur- ing the design stage and before they’re deployed. Voluntary or statutory third- party audits and bias impact statements could help companies “figure out how to get ahead of this game,” she added.
“Getting companies as well as con- sumers engaged \\\[and\\\] creating more feedback loops so that we actually go into this together, I think, is a much
more proactive approach than try- ing to figure out ways to clean up the mess and the chaos at the end,” she said.
Federal agencies are also increas- ingly making use of artificial intelli- gence and machine learning and will face many of the same challenges. A bill sponsored by Sens. Cory Gard- ner (R-Colo.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Brian
Schatz (D-Hawaii) would create a new Center of Excellence at the General Services Administration to provide research and technical expertise on AI policy. It would also establish a federal advisory board to explore opportunities and challenges in AI and require agencies to create governance plans for how use of the technology aligns with civil liberties, privacy and civil rights. n
CBP defends biometric programs to Congress
A senior official argued that CBP’s controversial programs automate the manual identity verification practices the government has conducted for decades
By Derek B. Johnson
A Customs and Border Protection official defended the use of facial recognition and biometric technologies during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing in July. John Wagner, deputy executive assistant commissioner at CBP’s Office of
Field Operations, also characterized
a breach that exposed thousands of traveler photos as an isolated incident unconnected to the way the agency manages and protects such data.
Wagner downplayed the scope
of the agency’s biometrics and
facial recognition tracking, telling the committee that the U.S. transportation
scanning system is not set up to easily separate foreign visitors from U.S. citizens and residents. Furthermore, the programs merely automate many of the identity validation functions that have been done manually for decades at airports, borders and other entry points.
Multiple entities — including CBP, the Transportation Security Administration and commercial airlines — use facial recognition
or other biometric technologies
to capture images of international travelers as they enter and exit the country. In addition, Immigration
and Customs Enforcement works with state governments to search and match driver’s license photos of undocumented immigrants.
‘Absolutely not a surveillance program’
Wagner argued that what some lawmakers and activists view as
an expansion of the government’s biometrics portfolio is instead the agency following the best practices outlined by the 9/11 Commission. Those recommendations include ensuring that security screenings are not ad hoc and uncoordinated so that
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