TSA plans to use facial recognition for its domestic flights

The airport security experience is about to see facial recognition technology play a bigger role, while TSA publishes today its roadmap for using biometric technology in the years to come.

Customs and Border Protection uses facial recognition to screen non-US residents on international flights since 2015, a project spearheaded by the Trump administration. Last year, the US government announced its intention to extend screening tools to US citizens, which would require them to undergo a facial scan when they leave the country via a system called "biometric way". Today's news explains how TSA will adopt the same technology, partnering with CBP on biometrics for international travelers, extending security operations to TSA Precheck members, and possibly using facial recognition to verify national travelers.

Some of these efforts are already under way. The TSA has been testing since June 2017 the fingerprint technology on the Precheck track of the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL). She compares travelers' fingerprints with their first registration at TSA Precheck. Later this month, Delta Air Lines will launch the first biometric terminal in the United States at the same airport, in partnership with TSA and CBP. The terminal will use facial recognition technology to speed up the travel process by automating flight check-in, baggage handing over, identity verification and boarding in the flight.

Delta

According to TSA, moving towards facial recognition technology at a time of strong travel growth, it hopes to reduce the need for paper-based documents such as passports and paper tickets. Currently, TSA manually compares the passengers in front of them with their passport photos, but believes that an automated process to match facial images to passport photos and visa applications will be more accurate and efficient.

But this convenience comes at a cost, as detractors of the facial recognition system have raised concerns about privacy, racial prejudice and the fact that customs are more transparent in the operation of the filtering algorithm. As the biometric trajectory system moves to more airports, it will continue to raise questions about the evolution of the security process.