The United States has long avoided outbound passport control, but is quietly building a biometric exit system at airports that functions much like one.
CBP insists that U.S. citizens may opt out and request manual inspection, but signage at airports can be inconsistent and the process often awkward. Images of U.S. citizens are supposed to be deleted within a 12-hour period, while non-U.S. citizens’ photos are stored for up to 75 years. TSA is also expanding its own use of face recognition at checkpoints, which raises broader questions about how far these technologies will go.
In Kazakhstan, a corrupt border official demanded a bribe in order to let me out of the country. While I look back on that incident and smile, it was very stressful at the time and a layer of corruption that would not have been necessary had there been no exit controls. I’ve had issues in Qatar and Algeria as well.
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on Live and Let's Fly.
