Over the past several months, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has been rolling out some major changes at its TSA checkpoints as the agency has embraced the use of facial recognition technology.
This new technology has made the security screening process more efficient for travelers, but it has also led to some privacy concerns.
However, one security expert has opened up a little bit about the truth regarding the new technology, clearing up some misconceptions.
TSA Changes Spark Privacy Concerns
The TSA’s expansion of facial recognition technology has certainly led to some criticism, as some experts and lawmakers have expressed their concern about the changes.
Some security experts have expressed concern about how the data is stored and used, as well as about the rights of travelers to opt out of the technology.
Travis LeBlanc, a lawyer and a former member of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, recently urged travelers to opt out of the facial recognition technology, telling travelers that the benefit is that “you don’t have to submit your picture to the government, for the government to scan it and store it under their rules.”
Lawmakers Attempt to Limit Technology
Over the past several months, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have attempted to pass legislation that would limit the TSA’s use of this technology.
The law, co-sponsored by Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley and Republican John Kennedy, aims to protect Americans’ ability to opt out of TSA facial recognition screenings at airports and prevent abuse of passenger data.
“The TSA subjects countless law-abiding Americans to excessive facial recognition screenings as they travel, invading passengers’ privacy without even making it clear that they can opt out of the screening,” Kennedy said in May.
“Folks don’t want a national surveillance state, but that’s exactly what the TSA’s unchecked expansion of facial recognition technology is leading us to,” Merkley also said back in May.
While that bill hit a bit of a snag this month, the lawmakers have vowed to keep pushing.
Expert Clarifies Misconceptions
This new technology has certainly been a hot topic, so we spoke to security expert Jake Parker, who is the Senior Director of Government Relations of the Security Industry Association (SIA), and he was able to clarify some things for us.
While there have been a lot of privacy concerns regarding the new technology, Parker explained during our interview that not much has actually changed, since all the facial recognition does is compare your image against data and information that the government already has.
Really, from a privacy perspective, there isn’t really anything new going on here that would change your privacy expectations or you know alter anything there because this is just basically verifying information that the government already has about your travel
and yourself,” Parker told Men’s Journal during a phone interview last week. “So really, there’s nothing new. It’s just a quicker and more efficient, and more accurate way to do a verification.”
While this used to be done manually – and can still be performed manually if someone opts out of the new technology – facial recognition makes the process more efficient and more accurate.
As far as what happens to the data after the facial scan is complete, the TSA insists that the data is not stored.
“Photos are not stored or saved after a positive ID match has been made, except in a limited testing environment for evaluation of the effectiveness of the technology,” TSA states on its website.
Even if the data was stored and ever became leaked or compromised, Parker explained that biometric data, like a real-time facial scan, is “essentially useless” compared to other forms of personal information because it’s likely unusable by any other system and lacks any context to tie it to any entity without further information.
So while people may be a bit uneasy as the technology continues to be expanded, Parker insists that the only thing that has really changed is improved efficiency and effectiveness.