On a recent flight out of Atlanta’s International terminal, I noticed several facial recognition machines while going through the TSA Pre line. None of them were being used at the time, but it got me thinking. How do I feel about the use of biometric scanning at airports?
How Do You Feel About Facial Recognition As Boarding Pass?
According to CNBC.com,
On your next flight, your face could be your ticket.
Foreign countries still require travel documentation, which is why passengers will still need to carry a passport. However, your face scan can be your boarding pass to get you to your seat faster.
The airline industry is taking a page from smartphone and computer hardware makers, by dabbling in facial recognition technology to speed up the convenience factor for customers. Recently, Delta Air Lines was the first to launch a biometric terminal in the U.S. for international flights at its Atlanta hub. Passengers can choose to check-in with the optional technology to speed up the process.
Separately, American Airlines and JetBlue are also working on their own facial recognition programs. According to airport technology company SITA, an airport tech company, over 70 percent of airports and airlines are planning trials or full rollouts of their own biometric scanning systems.
Here’s how it works: At the self-service airport kiosk or at the counter, you can have a photo taken that’s matched with your passport photo in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) database. Next, that serves as your identification at the TSA security checkpoint. And when passengers are at the gate and ready to board, their face is again scanned in just two seconds, and they cleared to go right to your seat.
More about TSA Pre Check
There are several credit cards that will reimburse the fee to sign-up for Pre-Check or Global Entry (which gets you Pre-check) including the The Platinum Card® from American Express, Chase Sapphire Reserve, and The Business Platinum® Card from American Express.
Bottom Line
I personally am not sure how I feel about this. On one side, it feels a little like an invasion of privacy. And I also worry about ways that it wouldn’t work well. I guess, since I haven’t used it yet, I will have to wait to pass judgement. What are your thoughts?
HT:Â CNBC.com
About The Weekly Flyer
The Weekly Flyer writes about travel from a business traveler perspective. He travels the world every week accumulating points and miles along the way.
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Creepy. 1984. Big Brother. Communist Russia. Thats how i feel. You should not trust the government that spies on its own people.
If one feels this is an invasion of privacy your a little late to the party. Just walking down the street in any major city virtually anywhere in the world and look up. By having a driver’s license passport or other photo ID’s basically assures membership! It’s a fact of life today and there’s not a damn thing anyone can do about it. “The cat is out of the bag”
Yeah, privacy doesn’t exist anymore anyway. I’m willing to give up the illusion of privacy to get through the illusion of security faster.
I trust the airline’s IT database security about as much as I trust Marriott’s, Target’s Experian’s, etc., etc. I will pass on this opportunity
It is creepy. Also I want to keep paper copies of receipts and boarding passes.