Over the last month, some very stark writing has appeared on the wall regarding the advancement of mandatory biometric IDs being imposed for U.S. air travelers.
On May 19th I reported on a new program initiated by Delta Airlines at Minneapolis-St. Paul airport to have automated baggage kiosks for “priority customers” that will first scan a traveler’s passport, then their face in order to match identity to checked luggage. It was promoted as a “pilot program” that Delta launched to seek customer feedback in the hope that it could be rolled out more widely in the future.
This announcement was followed by JetBlue who stated they will “test facial- and fingerprint-recognition technology at two U.S. airports to replace boarding passes, building on industry efforts to increase security and ease passage through airports.”
These announcements in and of themselves are enough to heighten concern about additional data collection and databasing that any form of biometric ID entails, but the JetBlue announcement contained an ominous new level of integration between public and private entities:
JetBlue is working with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and SITA, an information-technology provider for airlines.
…
“This is the first integration of biometric authorization by the CBP with an airline and may prove to be a solution that will be quick and easy to roll out across U.S. airports,” Jim Peters, SITA’s chief technology officer, said in the statement. (emphasis added)
An article published just days ago by FedScoop further confirms what the independent media has been warning for years – namely, that enhanced security measures which many believed would be used only against specific groups of supposedly scary people is set to trickle down to any and all of the traveling public. Even the title of the FedScoop article is a vindication of those “conspiracy theorists” who had the temerity to suggest a much wider plan for an incremental rollout when these measures first were hinted at.
In the article “CBP will implement long-mandated biometric exit at airports, official says” we discover the length of the plan, the hurdles that needed to be overcome and why we most likely are witnessing intensified media coverage at this moment:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is finally addressing the 15-year-old-plus legislative mandate to check the identity of departing foreign visitors using biometrics, CBP Deputy Executive Assistant Commissioner John Wagner said Thursday.
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Wagner said the goal would be accomplished by making use of existing data collection, the latest facial recognition technology and cloud computing. He acknowledged there would be privacy issues – particularly because the facial recognition technology would capture images of U.S. citizens as part of the overall process.
“We’re out of time, we’re out of excuses,” Wagner said.
The “overall process” it turns out must be sweeping due to the sluggish nature of retrieving and cross-referencing the already hundreds of millions of fingerprints and photos. Even though that process would take only 2 minutes for each traveler, when multiplied by the number of travelers it would create even worse headaches during the boarding process.
The a-ha moment, he said came with the thought, “What about leveraging existing processes, existing data we’re already collecting?”…
“What if we could use that [biographical data] to pull the photos of the departing passengers on that flight into a segmented cloud” and then check the faces of those boarding the plane, one-to-many, against that dataset, which he said would take only a few seconds because of its small size and the efficiency of the latest matching algorithms.
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It’s “easy for travelers, not as imposing as us taking fingerprints,” he said and the infrastructure was “A camera on a pole.”
Moreover, he added, the same process could be used “any place you have to show your ID [in the airport] … the TSA checkpoint, the duty free store, the [executive] lounge.” Instead of showing an ID, a passenger’s identity and flight could be confirmed using facial recognition, checked against the picture in the CBP segmented cloud.
Apparently, in the name of efficiency, (perceived) security and government mandate, the acknowledged privacy concerns are slated for eventual dismissal.
Nonetheless, Wagner said, CBP were determined to push ahead. “We’re gonna build that cloud space,” he said.
This should be viewed as the next stage of incrementalism where all becomes revealed as self-evident that this is not about the control of any one group, but is designed for all. People are now openly being transformed into digital organisms made easier for scanning and processing. The political will is there, the databases exist, and the technology is clearly being rolled out across every meaningful area of human activity.
Nicholas West writes for ActivistPost.com. He also writes for Counter Markets agorist newsletter.
This article may be freely republished in part or in full with author attribution and source link.
Image Credit: Kaspersky.com
So do you have to be told what to do about this or not?
You know, stop all the god damn traveling by plane and in a month or so the airlines will go broke and suddenly the TSA will no longer be needed, just simple metal detectors like before. Meanwhile learn what it is like to travel together in a vehicle and stop and see parts of the country on the back roads and by ways.
I’ve been yelling this for years. You’re talking to deaf ears. There are no more “True Americans” left in this country. They are spoiled, lazy, mindless fools staring at an ihpone screen thinking all is well in Kansas.
I don’t know, just seemed like it happened so fast didn’t it?? I literally see UPS, FedEx, Cops, 18 Wheeler’s, etc. driving and talking on iPhones. People need time alone to think, this constant input of cell phone use, the EMF waves from the towers. All this BS security stuff based on false flag events. Stay strong friend.
EJ Doyle; I agree with you 100%! I quit flying in the continental U.S. after Jan. 2008 and became a “road tripper”. It is wonderful. You see the U.S. in ways that are impossible by flying and you don’t get physically assaulted by some double-digit IQ TSA agent as you would boarding an airplane.
However, I strongly recommend having a subscription to satellite radio as the terrestrial radio stations away from the big cities are truly awful – especially out in the great, wide open West. :)))
“EJ Doyle; I agree with you 100%!”
Thanks Observer.
“You see the U.S. in ways that are impossible by flying”
Guess you can say you actually ‘see’ the US hey?
“I strongly recommend having a subscription to satellite radio”
I never listen to radio at home or in a vehicle. I prefer being in my own space and thoughts or listening to my own music. This need for being entertained, IMO, is an addiction and takes one away from the here and now too much.
And with the samples of music I have been shown, music is pretty much generic, cut and paste, cliche’ stuff.
Check some of mine out. The production numbers were done in Hollywood to be used as demos in the biz. The others are just me, my guitar and a mic at home lately.
Just search my name at youtube or click on this for a start:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X13KUcpibQ
This is also being used at the Atlanta International terminal. The photo quality is very poor, at least on the screen. I’m sure the technology will get better.
They probably have two terminals….one poor quality and the other one crystal clear….Think about it a second…..why have poor quality anything in this day and age….makes no sense….
Sir Nicholas West, thank you for your informative article. Do you have any solutions or suggestions to give us? I know I don’t have a clue. We are being force to comply. For those of us who really need to fly to see our love ones we have no choice but to travel by air. I would appreciate a followup to this article to see if the person who buy airline tickets really has any other options besides sub-cumming to their demands. Thanks again.
Good grief! Give up flying for just a while. If you aren’t willing to sacrifice yourself like our troops have, you deserve what you get.
If only 30%- 40% of people stopped flying for a month, they would have to change their tactics or go out of business! Stop being a whiner and do something!
Sir walcon, FYI , I have not flown on any airline for more than three years,ok? What I meant was that eventually I will have to fly again because I have relatives in other parts of the world. I was asking for solutions. Ok , with you? You don’t make any sense when you replied to me when you mention my sacrifice and our troops? You came out of nowhere to attack me. Take a break. Go on vacation or mow your lawn and relax.
I guess i’ve been reduced to driving and trains. I will not participate.
I haven’t flown since they put those irradiation machines in all the airports. So I drive – everywhere.
But driving as an option will be no better as they are implementing the “connected” car strategic plan, which will track you through mandated two way radios in all cars and infrastructure loaded with sensors, cameras, etc. as well as radiate you with RF transmissions – ten times a second!
Folks, they have all this hi-tech and have pushed through so many liberty stealing laws and here we are 15 1/2 years after 911 and the so-called “mastermind” of that event still hasn’t been seen at trial! I barf when people state America is exceptional. Not one trial. No one in jail, except us.
They are building our electronic fence as we speak – it is called 5G.
So now they will have your face to match up with your fingerprints…..this is WORSE than 1984 ever was…..Think about all the ramifications here for a second and you’ll be up all night……!!!! I haven’t flown anywhere in years and now I sure as hell won’t in the future either.
So what’s this facial recognition technology going to do with all the people who get plastic surgery or botox? Will they have to submit new passport photos after each operation? Like that’ll ever happen. This is just more fear-based social engineering and behavior modification, and judging by some of the comments here, it’s working perfectly. Problem, reaction, solution, then the solution becomes another problem so they do it again until the end result is accomplished which was the plan all along. The plan here is to keep people so scared of or annoyed by this stuff they stay at home and travel with a box on their heads where they can be monitored all the time. This is why they create these fake crises on airplanes in flight, too. And it’s the same thing with all the fake car and truck terrorist crises (see: Tavistock Institute for more about crisis creation and mass manipulation, then see the American Universities who are affiliates indoctrinating students with it). When have they EVER caught a terrorist after the trillions of dollars spent on this stuff? Well, considering they consider US the terrorists because we happen to have beefs with them and are exposing them, I’d say they’re catching us left, right and center, so in that despicable light, they’re pretty darn successful. Ironic we are paying to be terrorized and controlled by them, isn’t it?
Realize that if this is accepted you will soon have facial recognition and fingerprint scans required to buy gasoline or food. Sound far-fetched? There is already a convenience store in St. Louis that requires a facial scan linked to the DHS database to unlock the front door.