DHS offers "disturbing new excuses" to seize kids' biometric data, expert says

"Civil and digital rights experts are horrified by a proposed rule change that would allow the Department of Homeland Security to collect a wide range of sensitive biometric data on all immigrants, without age restrictions, and store that data throughout each person's "lifecycle" in the immigration system. If adopted, the rule change would allow DHS agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to broadly collect facial imagery, finger and palm prints, iris scans, and voice prints."

"They may also request DNA, which DHS claimed "would only be collected in limited circumstances," like to verify family relations. These updates would cost taxpayers $288.7 million annually, DHS estimated, including $57.1 million for DNA collection alone. Annual individual charges to immigrants submitting data will likely be similarly high, estimated at around $231.5 million. Costs could be higher, DHS admitted, especially if DNA testing is conducted more widely than projected."

"Alarming critics, the update would allow DHS for the first time to collect biometric data of children under 14, which DHS claimed would help reduce human trafficking and other harms by making it easier to identify kids crossing the border unaccompanied or with a stranger. Jennifer Lynch, general counsel for a digital rights nonprofit called the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told Ars that EFF joined Democratic senators in opposing a prior attempt by DHS to expand biometric data collection in 2020."

DHS would collect a wide range of sensitive biometric data on all immigrants without age restrictions and store those biometrics throughout each person's immigration lifecycle. DHS agencies, including ICE, could collect facial imagery, finger and palm prints, iris scans, and voice prints, and may request DNA in limited circumstances such as verifying family relations. DHS estimated the updates would cost taxpayers $288.7 million annually, including $57.1 million for DNA collection, and projected annual individual charges around $231.5 million. DHS acknowledged uncertainty about full costs and processed such data for about 21% of immigrants from 2020–2024. The proposal would allow biometric collection of children under 14 to aid identification of unaccompanied minors.

Read at Ars Technica