DHS Face-Scanning App Pulls From 1.2 Billion‑Image Database
Two ICE agents use smartphones outside of immigration court in New York.
Photographer: Madison Swart/AFP/Getty ImagesFederal immigration agents are using facial recognition technology that draws from US government biometric databases containing more than 1.2 billion face images, according to federal records reviewed by Bloomberg News.
The vast repository is maintained by the Department of Homeland Security, with agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, and other DHS units pulling images while detaining suspected undocumented immigrants and American protesters. DHS personnel use an app called Mobile Fortify, which draws facial recognition and fingerprint data from multiple government databases, according to DHS records.