Photo: Getty Images
A new program being tested at airports is a high-tech alternative to handing your ID over to the TSA officer sitting behind the screen. The Transportation Security Administration is running a trial of facial recognition technology at security checkpoints at 16 airports across the country. The idea is to streamline procedures and improve airport security, but not everyone thinks it's a good idea.
Here’s how it works:
- Travelers walk up and put their driver’s license into a slot that reads it, or they put their passport photo up to the card reader.
- Then they look at a camera on a screen, which compares their image to their ID.
- The technology is verifying the person matches the ID, as well as making sure the ID is in fact real.
- A TSA officer is still there and reportedly signs off on the screening.
- A small sign notifies travelers that their photo is being taken as part of the pilot program and they can opt out if they want to.
The technology is currently being tested at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, as well as Reagan National near Washington, D.C., and airports in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Jose, and Gulfport-Biloxi and Jackson in Mississippi. But it’s not at every TSA checkpoint, so every traveler at those airports won’t experience it. Even though this is voluntary and isn’t storing biometric data, some elected officials and privacy advocates have raised concerns about civil liberties and privacy going forward.
Photo: Getty Images