Experts issue warning about TSA’s new technology

Experts are raising concerns over the Transportation Security Administration’s growing use of facial recognition technology at airport checkpoints. While intended to streamline security, critics say it poses serious risks to passenger privacy.

The technology 

The TSA has rolled out facial recognition systems across airports nationwide. The system captures a real-time photo of a traveler’s face and compares it to their ID to confirm their identity. Though designed for speed and security, privacy advocates are alarmed. Some warn of long-term consequences if the government continues collecting and storing facial data, especially given past privacy breaches within the Department of Homeland Security.

Lawmakers push back 

A bipartisan bill led by Senators Jeff Merkley and John Kennedy seeks to strengthen passengers’ rights by ensuring they can opt out of facial recognition scans without facing penalties or extra scrutiny. “The TSA subjects countless law-abiding Americans to excessive facial recognition screenings as they travel, invading passengers’ privacy without even making it clear that they can opt out of the screening,” Kennedy said, according to Reuters. “Folks don’t want a national surveillance state, but that’s exactly what the TSA’s unchecked expansion of facial recognition technology is leading us to,” Merkley also said back in May.

Opt-out policy

Although TSA claims that travelers can opt out of facial recognition without added inconvenience, the U.S. Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board reports that this isn’t consistently enforced. According to the board, some TSA agents may not be informing passengers of their right to decline the scan. Others may not be following the official opt-out process at all.

Reports of pressure

The Algorithmic Justice League, an advocacy group focused on the harms of AI, published findings that include traveler accounts of being pressured when choosing to opt out. “Flying is so fraught that even when people have rights they’re terrified to exercise them,” said Albert Fox Cahn, executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project. 

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