Facial Recognition Is Coming to the TSA Security Checkpoints Lanes
 

Bloomberg Technology:

they are already using it at least at immigration, as seen from news articles

TSA now wants to scan your face at security. Here are your rights.
 

In The Washington Post:A version of this article on Yahoo! News, not behind a paywall.

I posted in another site I would not let the TSA photograph my upturned middle finger.

That said, how are PAX going to know the camera is turned off?

Uh-oh! Here we go again!

I don't think they like that. They don't like take a picture. This is very bad! This is so embarrassing!

I don't really have a problem with the concept, so long that the TSA's assertion is validated that 1. they are not building a nationwide biometric facial ID database and 2. that images are generally deleted immediately after use (compare ID + live photo, give result to TSO, when TSO hits next for the next person data is gone). For #1, the TSA seems to have taken pains (judging by prior documentation on CAT, not sure about CAT2) to make sure it does work offline, including a minimum amount for the solution to work solely on battery power and to have standard proprietary batteries.

(Also for anyone with objection to being in a facial ID database - I have bad news if you have a US passport or US visa, you already are. Some states even send all drivers license images to the FBI biometric database. I will play devil's advocate and say that the statistic is 37% of Americans have a valid/unexpired passport, it's more like 57% for valid passport ever, but still probably under 50% for images useful for facial recognition based on how old they are.)

I do hear the concerns in that it may be potentially discriminatory and that things often start with an opt out, then become mandatory.

Personally, having my fingerprints read for multiple purposes (including GE/NEXUS), my photo in the federal government's possession from my passport and GE/NEXUS - I don't see an automated local solution like this adding to any privacy issues beyond what I have already provided. So I don't object to it.

I like the idea of a traveler who wants to complain to a tsa manager - at an airport! Pax don’t always have the time to waste on this even when it’s a very bad tsa experience. If the flight is boarding in 30 min, do we want to waste potential 20 minutes to complain to a manager?

I can’t see how we really have a choice at a domestic airport. Private flyers can avoid. I can imagine computer glitches just lagging big time on the photos. Let’s not forget about hackers and rogue employees playing around with the photos and the name matches.

yes to your first point.

But not the second. The system "purportedly" does not compare to central database but only locally to the ID presented and the face in front of the camera. Since the comparison data is only what is presented right there at the TDC station there should be no system lag nor ability for hackers to interfere nor for someone to "play around" with the photos and name matches.

"Purportedly" because in TSA does have access to central biometric databases which include FRT data and I do not trust them anymore than I can throw an elephant. And we know during this pilot phase they are keeping collected data to evaluate accuracy of the system. It is no tech challenge at all for them to move to doing a triple check of the local data against central data.

I push back against airlines in the US wanting to subject me to biometric boarding.

I push back against CBP questioning why I want out of biometric boarding/exit when flying out of my country.

In the same vein as the above, I will push back against TSA trying to subject me to CAT-2/biometric travel document checks.

I remain able and willing to miss flights in order to stand my ground within the rules — which is probably why it’s usually the rule-denying/misinformed screeners and border control types who end up frustrated with me at times and end up too eager to try to get me on my way so they can instead go get on other people’s cases. This CAT-2 thing is just another aspect of TSA TDCs that will probably play out for me in the same way as with CAT(-1), “requirements” for government-issued photo ID, and TSA’s name games at the TDC stations.

Those familiar with what a”super query” is and how DHS uses super queries soon know that centralized database or not, government databases or commercial, the outcomes for the travelers subject to these checks will be just about the same.

As with many things in the government, follow the money — whether it’s going toward federal employment arrangements or federal government contractors and contracts — has long been a way to know what is going on in the space and will be going on:

https://sam.gov/opp/b63544504a724304...debdcea19/view

That’s from before Labor Day this year.

Serious question for you guys.

I haven't really given this issue much thought, but are you here mostly opposed to the potential abuse of facial recognition software only with the US Gov't? Or, are you opposed to it globally? In other words, during my recent travels CDG, DUB and HKG used some form of facial recognition. Are you guys ok with it, say, in Europe but just not in the US?

Since the TSA doesn't ask to scan my face at foreign airports, I oppose the FRT where it's relevant and how its legally possible for me to do so. And while my opposition to FRT against travelers is global on principle too, my opposition sort of scales with the volume of my tax contributions to a jurisdiction and the relevance of a place as a global beacon in terms of values. So even if the UST/IRS were to zero-out all my future potential tax liabilities and return most of my prior contributions, I would still be opposing the TSA's FRT use.

Maybe folks should start wearing this when traveling thru airports ;)


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5f91f7e1e.jpeg

We know from past experience that of course the TSA will find ways to misuse FRT. Images will be retained for "quality control" purposes, then misused by some employees to mock others. Passengers who don't properly bow down the TSA "authorities" will be harassed, penalized and forced to miss flights for TSA's entertainment purposes. Well connected contractors will make money on the equipment sales. Then when that particular well has dried up (passed the shortest possible "useful life time"), the new and improved equipment will appear for purchase.

Why would this particular effort be any different from past "security enhancements"?

The FRT ship has sailed in the US. All you need for FRT is an image to compare against a group of other images.

Airports have been saturated by surveillance cameras for decades, giving TSA the images to compare, and the majority of adults in the US have their pics in state databases thanks to driver's licenses and non-driver's IDs.

Being apprehensive about FRT in the US is normal, but the foundations have been laid since long before 9/11. If you have any kind of government issued photo ID in the US, from a passport to a driver's license/non-driver's ID to a Global Entry card to a military or DoD card, your face is in a database, and that database is available to the feds. Even if the database is a state or local database, a federal agency can get into it with a phone call (if they aren't already into it).

So I'm not going to die on this hill. If TSA wants to take my photo and add it to their own database, I can't see how that would affect me any more than the collection of images of me that's already in government hands and the pics of me that get taken automatically every time I walk into an airport terminal.

It seemed a bit of fantasy back then but you might totally recall the film Running Man with Schwarzenegger where his face and speech were photoshopped regarding the crime of which he was accused? Well, now we have well-documented cases of the jpossibilities with "deep fakes".... Not too difficult to imagine what Alex Jones and crew might have done with Sandy Hook if they were bright and low enough. Art becomes reality.

While it's certainly true that our images are likely already preserved in many publicly available files, it seems unwise to now mandate that TSA clerks be empowered to use these images to control our domestic travels. The staff have already demonstrated their difficulty understanding and complying with their own training and regulations.

That's addressing the symptom rather than the disease.

The diseases of TSA incompetence and overreach will not be cured by attacking tiny symptoms like TSA accumulating a FRT database, particularly when dozens of other government FRT databases already exist and are already in use. The only cure for the disease of TSA incompetence is enforced competence. The only cure for the disease of TSA overreach is oversight and strictly drawn boundaries.

FRT is more of a red herring than a real symptom.

TSA has had two decades to learn competence and respect for boundaries. Why provide another tool to use incompetently?

Once cockpits were hardened and the practice of "obey the terrorist hijackers" was abandoned, have there been any improved results beyond WTMD + handheld wands + bag X-ray?

I'm generally opposed to any type of surveillance or anything that could be used for surveillance. I first got Global Entry because I didn't want TSA knowing any more about me than they already do... I put slightly more trust in CBP than TSA.

But when it comes to facial recognition at the airport, I don't see why it even matters. Once you purchase your ticket, your passenger data is checked against law enforcement databases. Once you pass through the security checkpoint, they already know who you are, where you are, and where you are going. You don't even need to show ID anymore, just scan your boarding pass and up pops your picture. I don't see how facial recognition adds to the surveillance that's already going on.

And I do have to say, facial recognition at immigration control is amazingly fast and efficient.

Why spend time and energy opposing something that doesn't matter, instead of opposing things that do matter, like full body rubdowns with multiple genital contacts, tens of millions of dollars wasted on new tech that doesn't work, expansion into mass transit, pseudo-science like SPOT, and the continued insistence on calling all TSA screeners "officers" and costuming them up in fake police uniforms with shiny tin badges?

FRT is a red herring that only diverts our attention from the next giant tech boondoggle like AIT replacements or invasive practice like gate searches.

I'm not wasting time or energy on opposing FRT, as it already exists and is widely used. I've voiced my objections to the next round of "new best thing" which either provides corporate boondoggles or employment programs for the otherwise unemployable.

We don't need and more FRT or high-tech replacements or more make-work such as gate inspections - indeed, diversion and a waste of money. I think we should return to low tech at the security checkpoint - WTMD, hand-wanding and bag Xray. Identity check protects the revenues of airlines, it's their concern, not the government who received all that information when the ticket was purchased.

One of my favorite movies, so I have to correct you!

In The Running Man the government didn't alter his image or speech, they just selectively edited the video to make it appear he was *committing* a crime instead of *refusing* to commit one.

But later, they DID photoshop his image onto another person in a video to make the public believe he had been killed.

But your point is well taken....

All I'm concerned with is how well it works, whether it gets me through the TDC more efficiently than a human check, and how much it's going to increase the already bloated budget of TSA.

Frankly, I like the idea of relying less on the judgement of human TSOs, given how questionable that judgement has historically been. Automated TDC, automated bin return, even automated one-way exits from the sterile area, will all reduce the number of humans in the system, improving throughput during busy times because staff shortages won't slow things down.

I quite like facial recognition. I think it's great for aircraft boarding because it is so much faster.
I have not had it often for TSA "document checks" but it's nice when they do have it.
It means that nobody has to fumble around for ID, the right screen on a phone, no meaningless "highlighter" markings, no opportunities to "say your name."

The entire ID check seems to be of no value from a security standpoint, but they can at least make it quicker.
It will also mean the end of "Clear," which is not technologically advanced because one still has to scan a boarding card. At least they're usually really friendly.


The only downside is that I hate looking at photos of myself, but I suppose I can avert my eyes.

The more interesting stuff has nothing to do with the inserting an ID into a machine like the linked article recently posted, but is rather this pilot program, and the ways in which it could be expanded-- no physical ID required: https://news.delta.com/deltas-exclus...curity-atlanta

It seems like this concept could be adapted to cover every person who has a current US Passport, Green Card or Visa, irrespective of 'trusted traveler' program membership.

Seems that once a person's ID has been scanned the first time then just an image verification should be required on each subsequent screening.

Yes, but there are some technical limitations involving gallery staging that would have to be overcome, among other things. For more information, refer to pages 6 and 7 of GAO-22-106154.

I used this system when I departed on an international flight from TBIT at LAX in October. I was asked what document I wanted to use, a passport or a driver's license, instructed to place it on the scanner and look at the camera. Within a few seconds, I was told that I was good to go.

For what it is worth, facial recognition was used for boarding my JAL flight at LAX and Cathay Pacific flight at HKG. The boarding card did not have to be shown, I just looked at the camera, after a few seconds, my name and assigned seat were displayed on the screen and the gate opened allowing me to proceed to the jet bridge.

Know it's not exactly the same but when departing Galveston on a cruise CBP contractors take a picture using a pole mounted display then on return the passenger looks at the display, a comparison is made and a green indication is given to proceed. Only selected people or those with limit declarations get a personal interview. Although we have our passports in hand haven't had to show it using this system. Makes re-entering very quick but they are processing around 4,000 people in just 3ish hours.

~20pax /min seems pretty darn efficient.....

It only takes a few seconds for the image system to give a green or red indication. Multiple lanes in use. I don't know what hoops those who travel on a birth certificate jump through although there's a lot of people sailing the Caribbean without passports. They go to a different screening area.

Leaving the Seattle cruise terminal I just showed the picture page of my passport. No questions or anything else. Similar experiences in 3 Florida cruise ports. The difference I think is dealing with the same people who left on the cruise then returned.

But will Bakersfield Airport get facial recognition tech, too?

O.K., I will stop with The Running Man references.

I've encountered facial recognition scans at a number of non-U.S. airports, mostly for immigration control.
Dubai's have been woefully inefficient, to the point that 5 out of 6 times I had to go border control agent anyway.

Japan I think it was only on departure, and the U.K. it was for arrival and departure. What reduces the efficiency is:
-the two-gate scenario (slows down traffic)
-folks who simply have no idea what is going on (whether it be a language issue, or wondering where to place the passport/look at the camera)
-and then there's the unreadable documents

My documents never seem to work to enter the UK. I have no idea why, but every time I end up having to see a human who scans my document and welcomes me to the UK. The documents work fine in every other country I've tried that has automated pr🫣cessing.

Senate Bill Looks to Halt TSA Facial Rec Airport Screening
 

Facial recognition may NOT be coming to the TSA Security Checkpoints Lanes...

Bi-partisan bill that originated in the Senate...

According to the article, it was a cost issue. It was a privacy/surveillance state issue.

Bill text as introduced: Traveler Privacy Protection Act of 2023

Hmm.... FRT is already in use at many airports, notably by components of DHS other than TSA as well as by the airport themselves (airport law enforcement) not in conjunction with federal law enforcement. I agree with the sentiment of the sponsors but it seems to be too little, too late, the cat has already left the barn with the cow. :)