Remember my February 16 post “Notice ID 70RDA126RFI000003: Yes, It’s an RFI, But That May Be a HUGE Multi-Biometric Matching System”? Note that I used the words “RFI” and “May,” because it’s not a done deal.
When Biometric Update reported on this same RFI, it used similar qualifiers such as “If DHS proceeds to a formal solicitation.”
WIRED? Not so restrained.
“THE DEPARTMENT OF Homeland Security is moving to consolidate its face recognition and other biometric technologies into a single system capable of comparing faces, fingerprints, iris scans, and other identifiers collected across its enforcement agencies, according to records reviewed by WIRED.”
But those very “records reviewed by WIRED” include this statement:
“This RFI is for planning purposes only and shall not be construed as an obligation on the part of the Government. This is NOT a Request for Quotations or Proposals. No solicitation document exists, and a formal solicitation may or may not be issued by the Government as a result of the responses received to this RFI.”
And even if this actually WAS a true procurement…HART was originally announced during the Obama administration in 2016. Ten years later, it still hasn’t happened.
Bredemarket 