Warren Shepell had an unsettling experience this month when boarding his flight from Cleveland heading home to Toronto.
Just before getting on the plane, he says two uniformed officers approached him on the boarding ramp (Jetway), and one took his photo.
“I was aghast. I felt ambushed,” said Shepell, a noted Canadian psychologist.
He says the men never explained who they were or why he was photographed.
“They didn't tell me anything, and I just feel violated.”
Being photographed when in transit is something that Canadians who visit the United States will need to get used to: the country is advancing a plan to photograph Canadian travellers when they enter and exit the country by all modes of transport.
Warren Shepell of Toronto was boarding a plane from Cleveland to Toronto when two border officers approached him and one snapped his photo. At the time, Shepell had now idea why they wanted his photo. (Craig Chivers/CBC)
For close to a decade, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been using facial biometrics to confirm the identities of international passengers arriving at U.S. airports.
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