The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Is airports’ facial ID risking your privacy?
Questions arise about use of data as government, industry leaders embrace biometrics and privacy advocates push back.
Every day in airports across America, travelers confront facial recognition technology. Delta Air Lines began using facial recognition technology at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, installing cameras to identify passengers at one boarding gate, with plans to add more.
The technology probably saves time. Federal officials say it’s mak
ing us safer.
But how does old-fashioned privacy square with all these head shots and database comparisons? And what happens if you say no?
Who’s in charge?
The Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Customs and Border Protection unit is leading the charge, promoting the technology as “the ideal technology path to a more seamless travel experience.” And President Donald Trump added urgency with a 2017 order that called for security officials to make biometrics a priority.
Meanwhile, the Transportation Security Administration, another Homeland Security agency, has been collaborating with CBP on biometrics and has set a series of goals.
One is face-scanning travelers in TSA Pre lines (and integrating that data with fingerprints). Another is face-scanning more domestic travelers and perhaps integrating that data with driver’s license data by way of Homeland Security’s REAL ID program.
How fast is this moving? In an April report, Homeland Security officials said that within four years, they intend to scan the faces of 97% of passengers, including U.S. citizens and foreign nationals, on outbound international flights.
How many U.S. airports are doing it?
In an Aug. 14 email, a CBP spokesperson reported ongoing biometric exit operations (including facial recognition) at 22 U.S. airports, including the international terminal at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson. CBP location lists can be seen at cbp.gov/ travel/biometrics.
How does facial recognition work?
Passengers submit to a photo at a gate or security checkpoint instead of showing a passport or boarding pass.
Authorities access encrypted cloud data, then compare the fresh image against existing images in government databases.
If no match materializes, airlines or CBP officials ask for ID or run checks with more government sources.
CBP officials say the process takes just under two seconds per person, with an accuracy rate of more than 97%.
What if I say no?
The CBP and TSA say U.S. citizens have that right and that airport authorities should be ready to process travelers the old way.
What do critics say?
Many warn that Customs and Border Protection technology is dangerously fallible, that facial recognition software elsewhere has delivered inaccurate results and that this new approach could undercut civil liberties.
Expansion of the technology comes as a coalition of progressive groups, including Greenpeace, MoveOn and the Electronic Privacy Information Center, called for a federal ban of the use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement agencies.