BALTIMORE — A passenger walks up to an airport security checkpoint, slips an ID card into a slot and looks into a camera atop a small screen. The screen flashes “Photo Complete” and the person walks through — all without having to hand over identification to the TSA officer sitting behind the screen.
It’s all part of a pilot project by the Transportation Security Administration to assess the use of facial recognition technology at a number of airports across the country.
“What we are trying to do with this is aid the officers to actually determine that you are who you say who you are,” said Jason Lim, identity management capabilities manager, during a demonstration at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
The technology is currently in 16 airports. In addition to Baltimore, it’s being used in Boston, at Reagan National near Washington, D.C., and airports in Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Jose. However, it’s not at every TSA checkpoint so not every traveler going through those airports would necessarily experience it.
Travelers put their driver’s license into a slot that reads the card or place their passport photo against a card reader. Then they look at a camera on a screen about the size of an iPad, which captures their image and compares it to their ID. The technology is both checking to make sure the people at the airport match the ID they present and that the identification is in fact real. A TSA officer is still there and signs off on the screening.
A small sign alerts travelers that their photo will be taken as part of the pilot and that they can opt out if they’d like
Since it’s come out the pilot has come under scrutiny by elected officials and privacy advocates. In a February letter to TSA, five senators — four Democrats and an Independent who is part of the Democratic caucus — demanded the agency stop the program, saying: “Increasing biometric surveillance of Americans by the government represents a risk to civil liberties and privacy rights.”
Jeramie Scott, with the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said that while it’s voluntary now it might not be for long. He noted that David Pekoske, who heads TSA, said during a talk in April that eventually the use of biometrics would be required because they’re more effective and efficient, although he gave no timeline.
Lim said the images aren’t being compiled into a database, and that photos and IDs are deleted. Since this is an assessment, in limited circumstances some data is collected and shared with the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate. TSA says that data is deleted after 24 months.
“We take these privacy concerns and civil rights concerns very seriously, because we touch so many people every day,” he said.