CDT Joins Coalition Letter to Secretary Mayorkas on Proposed Expansion of Face Recognition at Airports
The Center for Democracy & Technology joined the ACLU, Access Now, and 20+ other leading civil rights, immigrant rights, and technology policy organizations on a coalition letter to the Department of Homeland Security, to rescind a harrowing NPRM and suspend the use of facial recognition technology on travelers.
Re: 85 Fed. Reg. 74162, Collection of Biometric Data from Aliens Upon Entry to and Departure from the United States
Dear Secretary Mayorkas:
The undersigned civil rights, civil liberties, immigrants’ rights, technology, and privacy organizations write to urge the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to immediately rescind the above-referenced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), published on November 19, 2020, and to suspend the use of facial recognition technology on travelers.
During the public comment period on the NPRM, numerous civil society organizations submitted comments in opposition to the proposed regulations, which would massively expand the government’s use of facial recognition technology and endanger the rights of tens of millions of immigrants and visitors to the United States.
On February 9, 2021, the Biden-Harris administration announced that CBP would reopen the period for public comments on these controversial proposed regulations. Commentators have perceived this reopening of the comment period as a sign that DHS and CBP intend to proceed with the deployment of mandatory face recognition of nonU.S. citizens at U.S. airports and the border.
For the reasons below, rather than allow the proposed regulations to advance to the next stage of the rulemaking process, DHS and CBP should immediately withdraw the NPRM and suspend their use of this dangerous technology.
CDT-led Coalition Calls for Transparency for White House AI Framework
CDT and Americans for Responsible Innovation led a broad, bipartisan coalition of over two dozen civil society groups in calling on the White House to release its Framework for review of frontier AI models.
CDT Amicus Brief Calls on Fourth Circuit to Rein In Geofence Warrants
Earlier this year the Supreme Court ruled in Chatrie v United States that the Fourth Amendment protected all cell phone location information, which CDT lauded as a landmark decision, but sent the case back down to the Fourth Circuit to assess the propriety of the geofence warrant at issue.
CDT and Partners Post Floor Alert Opposing CA SB 1013 Automated License Plate Readers Bill
The best way to ensure that Automated License Plate Readers are not abused is to limit the retention of stored data and to keep loopholes to lawful process closed. CA SB 1013 is a step in the wrong direction, and we urge the California legislature to reject this approach.
British Public Oppose Secret Surveillance Powers and Want Strong Protections for Encrypted Communications
CDT released nationally representative polling data revealing that a the British public are broadly concerned about the security, privacy, and free speech consequences of allowing law enforcement to access encrypted communications.
