Are US border officers using LexisNexis facial recognition service? Washington’s not saying

A small U.S. government contract with a previously anodyne data broker is tripping alarms with surveillance watchdogs.

Reporting by investigative publisher The Intercept indicates that Customs and Border Protection signed a $15.9 million, five-year surveillance-services contract in December that included facial recognition.

The contract went to LexisNexis, a data broker well known in U.S. business and research markets. The border is getting dense with biometrics.

The contract was for a bundle of surveillance tools that use personal data. It …

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