[Image credit: US Customs and Border Protection]

While privacy advocates are concerned that the technology could be used to track people and could put law-abiding citizens and visitors it can't recognize in trouble, CBP believes it will significantly bolster airport security and also speed up processing time for travelers. According to The Star, it already reduced international travelers' wait times by four minutes at the Mineta San Jose International Airport.

Dulles first tested the use of facial recognition as a security measure back in 2015, but it has only just implemented the fledgling technology on August 20th. It's one of the first 14 airports to launch biometric entry and exit using facial comparison, and the data it collects will help CBP determine how to use the technology. The agency is hoping to be able to completely replace boarding passes and IDs with a new security process that only uses facial recognition in the future.

Casey Durst, CBP's director, said in a statement: