US passport photo plan points to new layer of remote biometric verification U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this month that the State Department is preparing to make passport applications “almost all” online, including a process in which an applicant uses a phone or computer camera and the government’s security system to “verify the facial ID.” He said applicants would be able to apply “online entirely, for the most part,” but did not say whether first time applicants, minors, or everyone seeking a passport would qualify, and he did not define who would. The announcement suggests a significant expansion of the department’s existing online passport renewal service. Americans already can submit an eligible renewal application online and upload a “selfie” digital image. The current system is designed principally to determine whether an applicant’s uploaded photograph meets passport rules. It is then physically reviewed by an employee. But what Rubio described is a face biometrics comparison confirming that the person submitting a picture is the person associated with the passport record. Speaking at the launch of the commemorative Patriot Passport that features President Donald Trump standing behind the Resolute Desk, Rubio said applicants would be able to go online and do “almost all of it entirely online.” He said the camera that is in a phone, laptop, or desktop computer should allow a person to take a passport picture at home and have the department “verify the facial ID” in real time. He said the department expects to “roll that out in a few months when it’s ready.” Rubio did not say the system would use liveness detection, explain whether the applicant would take a still photo or a short video, or describe how the department would distinguish a live applicant from a replayed image, manipulated photograph, or synthetic video.