DHS Wants a Single Search Engine to Flag Faces and Fingerprints Across Agencies

Wired

by Dell Cameron

February 20, 2026

AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is aiming to consolidate its various face recognition and biometric systems into a single unified platform. This new system would allow DHS agencies like Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and others to search across large databases containing faces, fingerprints, iris scans, and other biometric data collected in different contexts. The goal is to replace the current patchwork of tools with a shared system that supports identity checks, investigative searches, and operations such as watch-listing, detention, or removal. The DHS is seeking bids from private contractors to develop this "matching engine," which would handle both identity verification and investigative searches. For identity verification, the system would compare a single photo to a stored record, providing a yes-or-no answer based on similarity. In investigative searches, it would return a ranked list of potential matches for human review. However, both types of searches come with technical limitations. Identity checks are more accurate but can fail if the submitted photo is blurry or poorly angled. Investigative searches produce more false positives, requiring extensive manual reviews. The integration of this system faces significant challenges due to the diverse biometric systems already in use across DHS agencies. Each agency has used different companies and technologies over the

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Originally published on Wired on 2/20/2026