Senators Say TSA's Facial Recognition Program Is Out of Control

A bipartisan group of 12 senators has urged the TSA inspector general to investigate the agency's use of facial recognition technology, citing concerns over privacy, civil liberties, and its expansion to over 430 airports without sufficient safeguards or proven effectiveness. Gizmodo reports: "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. The letter was signed by Jeffrey Merkley (D-OR), John Kennedy (R-LA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Steve Daines (R-MT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Peter Welch (D-VT).

While the TSA's facial recognition program is currently optional and only in a few dozen airports, the agency announced in June that it plans to expand the technology to more than 430 airports. And the senators' letter quotes a talk given by TSA Administrator David Pekoske in 2023 in which he said "we will get to the point where we require biometrics across the board." [...] The latest letter urges the TSA's inspector general to evaluate the agency's facial recognition program to determine whether it's resulted in a meaningful reduction in passenger delays, assess whether it's prevented anyone on no-fly lists from boarding a plane, and identify how frequently it results in identity verification errors.

found the fool

[Gravis Zero]

out of control
No longer under management, direction, or regulation; unmanageable or unruly. For example, Housing costs are out of control, or The children were getting out of hand again. The first term uses control in the sense of "restraint," a usage dating from the late 1500s; the variant uses hand in the sense of "power" or "authority," and dates from the late 1800s.

Stating something is "out of control" does not merely imply that it beyond your own authority.

I am guessing that English is not your first language but if it is then you have my sympathies.

TSA needs to go away

[hambone142]

It was created as a kneejerk reaction to 9-11. They have done absolutely zero to make our skies safer. It was started under Bush and I was surprised that Obama didn't get rid of it. Their employees are unskilled people and have way too much authority over travelers. They are also well-known for stealing airport traveler's belongings and money.

They need to go.

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[Valgrus Thunderaxe]

All of the knives the 9/11 hijackers used were perfectly legal at that time to carry onto a plane.

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[Anonymous Coward]

Let's get honest about radical Islam ---

I think most people here are too young to understand the reason for the invasive state of airport security world-wide. The PLO (Yasser Arafat, and company), basically "invented" the idea of bombing an airliner and now everyone is paying the price. Metal detectors and X-rays weren't a thing, prior to this. It got ramped up again, when a bunch of Saudis hijacked four planes and crashed three of them into building in the US. And then again, right after 9/11, we ha

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[ArchieBunker]

So was all of the identification they carried. Making the whole real ID thing pointless.

Re: TSA needs to go away

[writeRight]

"... real ID thing pointless."

No ID is required to travel domestically as that would violate right to travel, and there is no requirement for an American to have any ID. TSA will ask a few questions if you have no ID, so arrive a few minutes early. The TSA website even says so https://www.tsa.gov/travel/sec... [tsa.gov]. See section "Donâ(TM)t Have Your Acceptable ID?"

TSA are not police. They are not even officers though they pretend they are.

Re: TSA needs to go away

[Z00L00K]

Makes sense. I did a few trips to the US around 9-11 and after it felt like I arrived to a dystopia where everyone was considered guilty unless proven innocent.

It's not getting better and the direction is towards an autocracy.

Or how often it just plain doesn't work

[JimMcc]

I recently entered the country and elected to have a facial recognition scan. The other line was hundreds of people long. Instead, I walked up to the counter, waited for the one person ahead of me to be processed, and then proceeded with the scan. I couldn't recognize my face, despite it looking exactly like my passport photo with no changes. I was then manually processed through. I asked why it couldn't recognize me but wasn't given a direct answer. But reading between the lines, it was clear that it was not an unusual occurrence. That sure made me feel nice and safe. Not.

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[Anonymous Coward]

I bet this inconvenienced you for maybe five minutes. And then you were allowed to enter the country and go about your business.

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[bruce_the_moose]

I'd downmod your -1 anonymous ass for totally not getting the point. But that's not an option, redundant, and I couldn't tell you about it.

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[Anonymous Coward]

I bet this inconvenienced you for maybe five minutes. And then you were allowed to enter the country and go about your business.

I don't see where in his post he complained about being inconvenienced. I think he was making a different point.

Re: Or how often it just plain doesn't work

[Z00L00K]

I'd expect facial recognition to be a pretty fuzzy tool to use. Too many people that looks the same.

It could work well enough to exclude people from suspicion, but that's about it.

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[aaarrrgggh]

I haveGlobalEntry and rarely even have to show my passport entering the US. In that specific scenario, comparing Global Entry members against flight manifests for a particular time window it is good enough. TSA checkpoints are a different matter though and I believe the technology currently has the capability to reliably handle a locust 3 orders of magnitude larger.

Re: Or how often it just plain doesn't work

[writeRight]

Could that have been immigration / passport control and not TSA?

After clearing immigration and customs, those catching another flight enter the TSA queue for the domestic flight.