New Department of Homeland Security regulations in the United States will, beginning Dec. 26, require all non-citizens (including Canadians) to be photographed while entering or leaving the country.

The initiative is intended to build a comprehensive biometric data collection aimed at improving identity verification, combatting visa overstays and reducing passport fraud. The regulations note: “The best tool to combat passport fraud is to utilize the digital photos contained in e-passports to biometrically verify that a person who presents a travel document is the true bearer of that document.”

This is hardly the first or most intrusive measure when it comes to collection of biometric data at border crossings. Here’s what to know.

What is biometric data?

From the Greek words for “life

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