As part of its continuing efforts to increase the security of airports within the United States, the FAA established a multi-agency working group to accelerate its study of the integration of biometrics into airport security systems. Areas that appear to present the greatest opportunities for these new technologies include access control, protection of the public in and around airports, passenger identification and aircrew identification.

The working group is co-chaired by the FAA and the Department of Defense Counterdrug Technology Development Program Office. Other representatives include the U.S. Customs Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, National Institute of Justice, Technical Support Working Group, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Selected government, industry, and academic organizations have also been asked to provide information for analysis. The working group expects to present its findings to the FAA by the end of November.

Organizations with biometric products or applicable capabilities are encouraged to add information to an existing government-sponsored database of biometric technologies at http://www.biometricscatalog.org.