Drones Use Face Recognition Technology

Drones Use Face Recognition Technology

U.S. Border Patrol Agent Trent Robinson, right, with the Border Patrol Tactical Unit, distributes 9mm ammunition to Guatemalan police officers with the Interagency Task Force Tecun Uman, during 9 mm weapons training in Guatemala, June 12, 2013. The U.S. Army worked with U.S. Border Patrol to train the newly formed Guatemalan Task Force with the mission of interdicting the flow of illicit activities on the Guatemalan borders. (U.S. Army photo by Miguel A. Negron/Released)

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A new innovation program was revealed during a Menlo Park, California conference. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials told technology entrepreneurs that the DHS was seeking for drones small and light enough to launch easily and fly over vast stretches of desert. The drones would look for questionable activity, scan faces of suspects and compare them against a database for prior criminal history.

According to SF Chronicle, if startups match what federal officials are seeking, they could receive $50,000 to $200,000 for each milestone. That’s much less than what a venture capitalist would offer. But in their presentation last week, officials said companies could test their drones on the department’s large network of airfields to see how they work in real life.

In the past, some companies may have waited 9 to 12 months to get a contract with the government, according to Melissa Ho, DHS. Now under a new innovation program, startups can get a contract in roughly 30 days after Ho’s team evaluates the applications.

Border patrol agents face challenges every day. They carry a lot of weight, including a heavy body armor — hence the desire for lightweight drones. Drones already operate along the border. Eight large Predator drones, each with a 66-foot wingspan, help agents with monitoring.

One entrepreneur said a border patrol representative was asking for a long list of capabilities for the drones and wished the agency had ranked what aspects were most important.

Ari Schuler, a director of analytics integration for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said before any such technology is rolled out in the drones, it will be compliant with policy and law and there will be discussions with the agency’s privacy and civil rights offices.

Troy Mestler, CEO of Skyfront, a Menlo Park drone development company who attended the event said the DHS was “basically looking for drones as a force multiplier.. If there is something happening beyond their line of sight, drones are a great opportunity to take off from the border patrol agent, fly over a mountain and survey a particular piece of land for illegal activities.”

So far, DHS has selected companies for the first phase in a project aimed to strengthen and protect domains for Internet-connected devices, making awards to five of the 45 firms that applied.