this post was submitted on 02 Dec 2025
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Privacy

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Creepy US immigration welcome (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 22 hours ago by trailee@sh.itjust.works to c/privacy@lemmy.world
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US citizen here. I recently returned from my first international travel in a few years, and I was unpleasantly surprised by how easy it was to get back into the country.

In the returning citizens line, everyone was directed by an officer to one of three tablets each on a stand about 3-4 feet high. You stuck your face in the right spot for the camera and the tablet turned green. And that was it, free to go. No conversation with a human about where you went, no human verifying your passport, no need for the passport at all. Just a face scan (presumably matching a database of digitized passport photos) and you’re done.

Makes me wonder what the bar is for various local law enforcement or different federal agencies to get access to the database and hook in with surveillance cameras.

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[–] Th4tGuyII@fedia.io 5 points 16 hours ago

Considering its relevant to the discussion I would say (like OP) that's a bit uncalled for...

Historically and currently, non-white people are much more likely to be profiled in airports - meaning that it often isn't as easy as "scan your face here and walk through".

If anything it's even more privacy invasive than the "normal" procedure.