The Canada Border Services Agency has launched a new automated traveler screening program based on facial recognition, according to a CBC report. Dubbed the Primary Inspection Kiosk (PIK) program, it’s starting to take shape as international airports in Ottawa, Toronto, and Quebec City pave the way with requests for tender.

In the case of Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, 130 new passenger processing kiosks will be installed by Vision-Box, which says it has been working on the planning process with the CBSA for two years, and that Pearson’s first kiosks will begin operations this May. While Vision-Box recently celebrated its first deployment of biometric screening technology to a private rail service between the UK and France, it’s better known for airport deployments such as its recent projects with the Netherlands’ Schiphol airport and Sint Maarten’s Princess Juliana International Airport.

As for the PIK program more broadly, the CBSA has indicated that it will continue unfolding into next year. And while the CBC’s report notes the concerns of privacy advocates like the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, and of the Customs and Immigration Union, it also suggests that the Canadian Airports Council is enthusiastic about the project, with CAC VP Chris Phelan asserting that the kiosks will ease the flow of passenger screening while helping security authorities to focus on more intensive assessments and interventions as necessary.

Source: CBC News

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March 6, 2017 – by Alex Perala