TSA's Airport Facial-Recognition Tech Faces Audit Probe (theregister.com) 7
The Department of Homeland Security's Inspector General has launched an audit of the TSA's use of facial recognition technology at U.S. airports following concerns from lawmakers and privacy advocates. The Register reports: Homeland Security Inspector General Joseph Cuffari notified a bipartisan group of US Senators who had asked for such an investigation last year that his office has announced an audit of TSA facial recognition technology in a letter [PDF] sent to the group Friday. "We have reviewed the concerns raised in your letter as part of our work planning process," said Cuffari, a Trump appointee who survived the recent purge of several Inspectors General. "[The audit] will determine the extent to which TSA's facial recognition and identification technologies enhance security screening to identify persons of interest and authenticate flight traveler information while protecting passenger privacy," Cuffari said.
The letter from the Homeland Security OIG was addressed to Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), who co-led the group of 12 Senators who asked for an inspection of TSA facial recognition in November last year. "Americans don't want a national surveillance state, but right now, more Americans than ever before are having their faces scanned at the airport without being able to exercise their right to opt-out," Merkley said in a statement accompanying Cuffari's letter. "I have long sounded the alarm about the TSA's expanding use of facial recognition ... I'll keep pushing for strong Congressional oversight."
[...] While Cuffari's office was light on details of what would be included in the audit, the November letter from the Senators was explicit in its list of requests. They asked for the systems to be evaluated via red team testing, with a specific investigation into effectiveness - whether it reduced screening delays, stopped known terrorists, led to workforce cuts, or amounted to little more than security theater with errors.
The letter from the Homeland Security OIG was addressed to Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), who co-led the group of 12 Senators who asked for an inspection of TSA facial recognition in November last year. "Americans don't want a national surveillance state, but right now, more Americans than ever before are having their faces scanned at the airport without being able to exercise their right to opt-out," Merkley said in a statement accompanying Cuffari's letter. "I have long sounded the alarm about the TSA's expanding use of facial recognition ... I'll keep pushing for strong Congressional oversight."
[...] While Cuffari's office was light on details of what would be included in the audit, the November letter from the Senators was explicit in its list of requests. They asked for the systems to be evaluated via red team testing, with a specific investigation into effectiveness - whether it reduced screening delays, stopped known terrorists, led to workforce cuts, or amounted to little more than security theater with errors.
"security theater with errors" (Score:5, Insightful)
find the failure modes (Score:2)
Would be nice to quantify error rates, both false positives and false negatives.
And do this as a function of ethnicity, which has been a known failure mode in previous facial recognition tests.
Re: (Score:1)
I would be more interested in finding out how much money they've made on the side by selling this data on the open market and how much of it they've unwittingly leaked to organized crime.
False negatives too (Score:2)
My brother-in-law recently flew from Grand Rapids to Houston. At Grand Rapids, the TSA used facial recognition technology to compare his driver's license photo to a photo taken by the machine at the airport. The machine refused to confirm that he was the person shown on his driver's license photo. It took several rounds of calling supervisors and supervisor's supervisors, before they finally figured out how to verify his identity.
Re: (Score:3)
As someone who flys all the time, this is why i kindly say "no thank you" as it is an opt-in requirement, they just don't tell you have an option.
They say just "stand Infront of the camera" and per the 4th amendment they can search if you consent - it's up to you to know what your rights are - and you always have the right to refuse consent to search without a valid warrant.
And i've only ever had one agent stop me and insist i stand Infront of the photo - a simple request for a supervisor solved the issue.
Re: (Score:2)
Good to know. And no, of course they didn't inform us that refusing was an option.
Opting Out From What? (Score:1)
having their faces scanned at the airport without being able to exercise their right to opt-out,
I fly 3-4 times per year and have gone through security at 6 different airports. I've always been able to and have opted out of getting my face scanned by the security lines. I have not been able to opt out of getting my face recorded by all the security cameras covering the entire airport (and if you care about security then you change any passcode you use while you're in the airport or any store or any other place heavily covered by security cameras).
I also have no problem opting out of the body scanner