Smile – you’re on camera. That’ll help you get through security faster. Or not. There are two threads to that story at airports. The first is that CBP has been testing facial recognition technology at LAX and other airports to meet a congressional mandate for biometric verification of people entering and leaving the country. Possibly a good thing, particularly since everyone from everywhere has already given up their facial image in their passport for comparison. It’s part of the “price” of entry to the US. Indeed, in the recent tests there have been several successes in catching imposters trying to use phony passports.

The other thread has the similar technology being tested as identification when checking in at the airline ticket counter using driver’s licenses or other “government issued” ID. Note the subtle difference - that’s an airline function, not airport, potentially used as a boarding pass at the gate. But it may or may not get you through the screening checkpoint because that would require an essentially real-time connection between the TSA data base and every airline – all of which may not use the technology in the first place.

There are problems. Facial recognition technology can and does misidentify people; an ACLU test incorrectly matched 28 members of Congress identifying them as people arrested for a crime. [ insert political joke here]. The false matches were disproportionately people of color. The internet meme making the rounds is that new technology software can pick a person out of a crowd of thousands, but the coffee machine at work can’t recognize a dollar bill with a bent corner.

In addition to privacy and security concerns about government data bases, facial recognition doesn’t work the same for everyone. Can you opt out? If the face of every traveler is not in the files, a dual system must be maintained. Further, the technology is not necessarily equal everywhere ... different software with different cameras, resolution, lighting and staging ... for example, at certain times of day, sunlight – including reflected sun through the window can blind the camera for hours.

CBP says it’s accurate, even with an older photo – (what happened to the one taken 20 minutes ago at the ticket counter? Can all three kids take a group selfie?) TSA says it wants to test it further. Airlines are watching closely. And so they should.