Fact Check: No proof Canadian citizens will face mandatory facial-recognition scans at US border
Claim:
Canadians entering the U.S. by car will face mandatory facial-recognition scans.
Rating:
In May 2025, claims (archived) circulated online that Canadians entering the U.S. by car would face mandatory facial-recognition scans.
A Facebook post on the topic read:
Canadians entering the U.S. by car will now undergo mandatory facial recognition checks, as part of expanded border security measures. U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed the rollout includes photographing travelers and comparing images to passport or visa records in real time. The move, already in place at airports, is now being implemented at land crossings to streamline identity verification and detect fraud. Privacy advocates warn the technology raises serious concerns about data use and oversight.
The claim was popular on Facebook (archived), but also appeared on (archived) Reddit (archived). Snopes readers also searched our site for information about the claim.
However, at the time of this writing, we found no credible reports that U.S. Customs and Border Protection was introducing new regulations to make facial-recognition scans mandatory for Canadian citizens (archived, archived, archived, archived). A CBP spokesperson told Snopes via email that "biometric data collection is not a new process." The spokesperson also confirmed that "Canadian and Bermudian citizens traveling as tourists on only a passport" were not required to comply with biometric testing, which can include facial scans, on entry and exit. Therefore, we rate this claim false.
We reached out to Global Affairs Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency to ask whether regulations around facial-recognition scans for Canadians entering the U.S. were due to become mandatory and await a reply.
The claim could be loosely based on a report by the technology-focused outlet Wired published on May 9, 2025. The report detailed CBP plans to expand existing efforts to use facial-recognition technology on travelers entering the U.S. by car to those exiting, as well. Other (archived) reports (archived) published later in May, nearer to when the claim circulated, also based their reporting on the Wired report.
That report, however, did not say that specifically Canadian travelers would be subjected to mandatory facial-recognition scans when entering the U.S. The claim took Wired reporting a step further by claiming that facial-recognition scans at the border were something new and would be mandatory.
Biometric facial-comparison technology — where cameras take a photo of a person's face as part of identity checks — was "in testing" for travelers crossing into the U.S. in "personally owned vehicles" in May 2025, according to CBP's website. Peace Bridge in Buffalo, New York, and Veterans-Los Tomates in Brownsville, Texas, were the only two locations listed on CBP's website that used facial biometric comparison technology on travelers in vehicles in May 2025. CBP said in September 2023 (Page 21) and in November 2024 that people traveling through Veterans-Los Tomates and Peace Bridge border crossings respectively could opt out of biometric testing if they wished during the test period.
CBP used facial biometric comparison technology to admit pedestrians at land border crossings in seven states in May 2025. The agency currently allows U.S. citizens to opt out of "facial photo capture" at border points that use this biometric data to process travelers.
The Intercept, a nonprofit investigative news organization, reported in August 2024 that CBP asked private-sector businesses to help it develop facial-recognition technology to identify and screen passengers inside a moving vehicle before it approached a border point.
CBP said in November 2024 it was testing a similar system to that described in The Intercept's report at the Peace Bridge point of entry on the U.S.-Canada border in New York. According to a news release, travelers could opt in to use designated "biometric" lanes when entering the U.S. at this crossing.
CBP said: "As travelers approach the vehicle lanes, the camera will attempt to take a photo of each occupant in the vehicle and match it to photos of those travelers already in government holdings, such as passport, visa, or prior encounters, to verify identity."
Travelers who wished to opt out could use alternative lanes where staff would continue to carry out the "standard manual document check," CBP said.
According to CBP's website, though it initially said this test would run until March 2025, vehicle biometric technology was still in use at the Peace Bridge entry point in May 2025. We found no evidence that using the designated biometric lanes at Peace Bridge was mandatory for Canadian citizens in May 2025.
However, a September 2023 Department of Homeland Security report (Page 11) on biometric technology at Brownsville points of entry said that once the system was "fully realized" only U.S. citizens and other "non-in scope travelers" could opt out. Some Canadian citizens could be included in "non-in scope travelers" as defined by Immigration and Nationality Act and thus still be able to opt out, the report said. This is in line with the CBP spokesperson's confirmation that Canadian citizens "traveling as tourists on only a passport" were exempt from biometric requirements at the U.S. border.
The DHS, which is CBP's parent agency, has been working toward a biometric entry-exit system to the U.S. since at least 2004, when it featured as one of the 9/11 Commission Report's (Page 389) recommendations.
8 USC 1101: Definitions. https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title8-section1101#=0&edition=prelim#:~:text=(B)%20an%20alien%20(other,or%20temporarily%20for%20pleasure%3B. Accessed 23 May 2025.
Biddle, Sam. "Homeland Security Still Dreams of Face Recognition at the Border." The Intercept, 27 Aug. 2004, https://archive.ph/N8wNq#selection-559.9-562.0.
Biometrics Locations: Land Border Ports of Entry | U.S. Customs and Border Protection. https://www.cbp.gov/travel/biometrics/locations/land-border-ports-of-entry. Accessed 23 May 2025.
Biometrics: Overview | U.S. Customs and Border Protection. https://www.cbp.gov/travel/biometrics/overview. Accessed 23 May 2025.
CBP Announces Facial Biometric Test for Inbound Vehicle Travelers at Buffalo, Peace Bridge Port of Entry | U.S. Customs and Border Protection. https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/local-media-release/cbp-announces-facial-biometric-test-inbound-vehicle-travelers-buffalo. Accessed 23 May 2025.
Department of Homeland Security. Privacy Impact Assessment Update for the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Modernization. 26 Sept. 2023, https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2023-09/23_0926_privacy-p%E2%81%AEia-cbp003c-acemodernizations.pdf.
Haskins, Caroline. "US Border Agents Are Asking for Help Taking Photos of Everyone Entering the Country by Car." WIRED, 6 May 2025, https://archive.ph/4I1GM#selection-455.0-460.0.
---. "US Customs and Border Protection Plans to Photograph Everyone Exiting the US by Car." WIRED, 9 May 2025, https://archive.ph/ngDNh#selection-455.0-460.0.
Mandatory Facial Recognition Scans Us Canada - Google Search. https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=237638b250c80c54&rlz=1C5CHFA_enGB1138GB1138&q=mandatory+facial+recognition+scans+us+canada&tbm=nws&source=lnms&fbs=AIIjpHxU7SXXniUZfeShr2fp4giZ1Y6MJ25_tmWITc7uy4KIeqDdErwP5rACeJAty2zADJgYJpo1blvMpITBRgbnARM69TTwvvH-eOrrmkPmiC48hn9CUNQ4JZ2TOsEIOgvK2IAoHx7UEPHuZIoFgWSLI2a7JIZGhsNxVC82t_bFSO_jgnxghhv_sRbByYHItWk1DKcZ748DqiWjIj8fkNmRrqxb9uyPYA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiThKXTqLqNAxVChv0HHceKJMsQ0pQJegQIExAB&biw=1920&bih=849&dpr=2. Accessed 23 May 2025.
Mandatory Facial Recognition Scans Us Canada - Search News. https://www.bing.com/news/search?q=mandatory+facial+recognition+scans+us+canada&FORM=HDRSC7. Accessed 23 May 2025.
Mandatory Facial Recognition Scans Us Canada - Yahoo Search Results. https://uk.news.search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=AwrLBm9fyzBoEwIAh.ZLBQx.;_ylu=Y29sbwNpcjIEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3BpdnM-?p=mandatory+facial+recognition+scans+us+canada&fr2=piv-web&fr=yfp-t. Accessed 23 May 2025.
Mandatory Facial Recognition Scans Us Canada at DuckDuckGo. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=mandatory+facial+recognition+scans+us+canada&t=h_&iar=news. Accessed 23 May 2025.
Silvestre, Irish Mae. "U.S. Border Agents Will Force Canadians to Undergo Facial Recognition Checks." blogTO, https://dailyhive.com/canada/us-border-cbp-facial-biometrics. Accessed 23 May 2025.
---. "U.S. Border Control's Facial Biometrics Plans Will Affect Canadians | National." Daily Hive, https://dailyhive.com/canada/us-border-cbp-facial-biometrics. Accessed 23 May 2025.
The 9/11 Commission. 12. What To Do? A Global Strategy. 22 July 2004, https://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report_Ch12.pdf.
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