There has been a recent spate of ‘news’ stories about the future of aviation travel becoming easier, faster, better, more secure – an all-around nicer experience due to the introduction of biometrics, and specifically the use of facial recognition. I beg to differ, although in a nice way. Indeed, I agree that facial technology has significantly improved in recent years, and eventually may speed up your overall experience somewhat, but I suggest the stories are raising incorrect public expectations. It’s partly a TSA/CBP error in their lack of clarity about the nature of their different tests, and partly a resulting media error for blindly re-typing the industry and government press releases without first understanding all the issues - and there are many.

First, let’s temporarily ignore one issue by stipulating this is not about physical security of the airport – ID badges, locked doors, surveillance cameras and the like, although there can be significant downstream effects in these areas. The CBP program is all about facilitation, which is an industry buzz word about throughput – getting you through the international border travel process easily, quickly, securely, with a minimum of hassle. It involves, among other things, tracking people arriving and departing the US against their passports, visas and other international data base criteria.

The TSA program is similar in that it is testing facial recognition domestically as an alternative to traditional paper, passport or photo ID upon entering the screening lanes, and could allow much faster passenger ID verification and checking against various data bases. This is where things begin to get muddy, particularly with EU travelers who are subject to the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) privacy law which addresses use and control of their personal data outside the EU. It doesn’t get more personal than your face.

International passengers departing from two gates at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport are having their faces scanned as part of a pilot program, and the airport plans to roll out the technology to 75 international departure gates in the coming months. The scans are used to track travelers departing the country, and US passport holders can opt out.

Some of the issues:

• Will airlines keep facial data of passenger identity on file, at least until the next breach? It’s an expensive IT retention and liability issue, and US nationals can opt out, but maintaining that separation is more hassle, not less.
• Will government keep and protect the data? The difference between general surveillance of a crowd for identification—and the 1:1 verification process once the subject is found is quite different, which suggests a need to retain both.
• Is facial recognition biased? Yes, in certain cases of ethnicity and skin tone.
• Will facial recognition replace all current security ID measures? Not likely – the very act of opting out, or new or infrequent travelers not appearing in the data base, means the manual system must remain in place. That includes smart phones and paper boarding passes
• Will facial recognition be the first step toward “big brother” surveillance? In some areas, it already is. So just try to opt out, and see how many new data bases you suddenly appear on......