Senators Uneasy Over TSA Expanding Facial Scans, Demand IG Probe
A bipartisan group of senators wants an investigation into the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSAs) use of facial recognition technology at the nation’s airports. Such technology compares real-time photos of travelers with their IDs.
The senators warn if it’s deployed on a large scale, it could become “one of the largest federal surveillance databases overnight without authorization from Congress.”
The senators, seven Democrats and five Republicans, wrote a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General Joseph Cuffari asking for a probe into use of the technology, its effectiveness, and whether it will result in improper collection of biometric data.
The facial recognition technology is already in use at more than 80 U.S. airports with plans to expand its use to more than 400 airports in the coming years.
“This technology will soon be in use at hundreds of major and mid-size airports without an independent evaluation of the technology’s precision or an audit of whether there are sufficient safeguards in place to protect passenger privacy,” the senators wrote. “TSA has not provided Congress with evidence that facial recognition technology is necessary to catch fraudulent documents, decrease wait times at security checkpoints, or stop terrorists from boarding airplanes.”
In their letter, the Senators cited a Washington Post article where TSA reported a three percent inaccuracy rate in facial recognition identification, which would amount to approximately 68,000 travelers being incorrectly identified on a daily basis.
They also discussed the option to opt out of a facial scan.
The Senators stated their offices received numerous reports of Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) becoming “belligerent when a traveler asks to opt out, or simply being unaware of that (opt out) right.” They also noted that signage to opt out of the facial scans is “often strategically placed in inconspicuous locations, making it challenging to read and locate.”
Seven of the letter’s signers, including Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and John Kennedy (R-LA), proposed legislation earlier this year that would pause rollout of the technology until Congress reviewed it. That legislation did not advance.
For its part, TSA has stated its intent to make the technology mandatory in the future.
Record Thanksgiving Travel
Meanwhile the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says a record 12 plus million passengers went through TSA checkpoints during Thanksgiving week. That’s up from 11.7 million passengers during the same period last year.
"Despite the record numbers, only 0.3 percent of flights were cancelled, and delays were a record low of 1.2 percent of flights," the FAA added.