U.S. border officials have quietly deployed a new surveillance app to collect and store information on asylum seekers before they enter the United States, the Los Angeles Times was the first to report.
Why it matters: The kind of technology used in the app, which relies on facial recognition, geolocation and cloud computing, remains controversial and has raised alarms about unchecked surveillance and data collection, experts told the newspaper.
Details: The Department of Homeland Security's privacy-impact assessment calls the app, CBP One, necessary because border officials can't "process all individuals at once." Under the Trump administration's controversial "Remain in Mexico" program, which President Biden retained until recently, asylum seekers have largely been forced to remain in Mexico while awaiting immigration hearings....
- International and nongovernmental organizations identify asylum seekers in Mexico and send their biographic and biometric information, which includes photos, to Customs and Border Protection through the app.
- CBP then uses facial recognition to verify the information and evaluate whether the asylum seeker should be allowed into the U.S.
- The first version of the app debuted on Apple's app store seven months ago. Border officials have compiled a photo gallery of roughly 70,000 asylum seekers through Remain in Mexico, according to the Times.