SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Just ahead of this holiday week, San Diego's Cross Border Xpress (CBX) unveiled new biometric facial comparison technology.
The CEO of the sky bridge that connects travelers directly to the Tijuana International Airport told ABC 10News that it will further secure and streamline travel into the United States.
The U.S.-Mexico border is still closed to non-essential travel because of COVID-19. CBX CEO Jorge Goytortua said CBX is still not encouraging people to travel right now but if they do, they can take advantage of this technology.
“Within seconds, the technology will recognize the passenger in a [Customs and Border Protection (CBP)] database,” said Goytortua. He told ABC 10News that the comparison process happens only at a time and place where travelers are already required by law to verify their identity by presenting travel documents.
Goytortua says that when a traveler arrives at the CBP processing area, he or she will have a photo taken at the primary inspection point. A CBP officer will do a review by retrieving the traveler's passport or visa photo from government holdings. The new photo will be compared to the previously collected photo.
“It's going to be a hands-free process. It's going to be a much faster process,” he told ABC 10News.
He added that CBX does not have access to the photos. Only CBP officers can see them. If travelers are still concerned about privacy, he said it's not mandatory to use the technology.
“You can ask the officer if you don’t want to be processed like that then you will be processed the traditional way with your document read it on the scan. A CBP officer [will] research on their system and make sure that the person that is presenting the document is the one there in front of the officer,” he stated.
