The machine scans a passport, records fingerprints and takes a three-dimensional scan for facial recognition.
In June, Trump refused to release his own passport records or college records.
"It's sort of a traveling passport, recording how she was passed off from constable to constable," Mr. Taussig said.
Since late 2010, the Homeland Security Department has had access to the 113 million State Department passport records and photos to help prevent abuse.
Several contract workers have been fired since the disclosure that the passport records of presidential candidates had been improperly opened.
Current 'challenges' include how suppliers could help the Identity and Passport Service to improve its use of facial images in its passport records to detect fraud.
They are also trying to create a global electronic network of customs and passport records, while trying to keep those security measures from unduly disrupting trade and travel.
Federal prosecutors are investigating whether State Department employees broke the law by snooping into the passport records of prominent politicians, athletes and entertainers, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said.
In 1992, when it looked like a Democrat was about to take the White House from the Republicans, someone at George H.W. Bush's State Department rifled through Bill Clinton's passport records.
Before it was closed down in 2009, snooping on private passport records was a popular intramural activity at the State Department, widely known and casually accepted.
Presidential hopeful Donald Trump has refused to release his long-form birth certificate and passport records, despite demanding the same from Barack Obama during the 2012 election.
