Travelers in U.S. airports may be able to move through the security line a little faster now — if they’re willing to let the government scan their faces.
The Department of Homeland Security is now using facial recognition software in its TSA PreCheck Touchless ID lines. Those lanes are separate lanes from the typical PreCheck lanes, which have reportedly become slow as more travelers take advantage of the service, according to the Washington Post.
The program started in 2021 at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, but is now available in 15 airports. Those airports include: Chicago O’Hare; Dallas-Fort Worth; Denver; Detroit Metropolitan; Harry Reid; Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta; JFK; LaGuardia; LAX; Newark; Portland International in Oregon; Ronald Regan; Salt Lake City; San Francisco and Seattle-Tacoma International Airports.
Some lanes are only available with certain airlines at certain airports. Travelers hoping to jump into the supposedly faster lines should check before traveling if their airport and airline use the service.
For travelers who don’t mind letting the fed scan their faces, they have to first be a TSA PreCheck member with a valid Known Traveler Number and an active airline profile — like a loyalty program — as well as a valid passport.
The facial recognition lanes can be faster than other security lines. For one, travelers don’t have to stop to hand over their IDs to TSA officials. They simply walk through the line dividers until the reach the luggage X-ray machines. The other reason is that the line is relatively new and hasn’t been inundated with travelers — yet.
Reporters at the Washington Post that tried the new program reported that during one attempt the facial recognition machine was under maintenance, and during the second, a Touchless ID symbol did not print on their boarding pass, and they were not able to time how long going through the line without issue would take.
The major question looming about facial recognition technology is Americans’ privacy and how that data will be stored and used.
Critics of the technology cited a 2019 incident in which a DHS data breach compromised the photos of American travelers. The information was accessed through one of the DHS’s subcontractors, according to the Washington Post.
The TSA said that its databases are encrypted and that traveler information is protected from breaches.
A new bill in the Senate would allow for airport officials to scan travelers’ faces, but only if they opt-in to the technology. It would ban using the tech for anything other than verifying people’s identities, and require the agency to immediately delete the facial scans once the check is complete.
Right now, travelers can opt out of facial recognition scanning by telling airport security you’d prefer a “standard ID check.”
