Customer Experience

TSA expands facial recognition ID verification at airports

Image provided by iStock.

December 6, 2022

The Transportation Security Administration has been testing facial recognition technology to screen passengers at 16 domestic airports and plans to expand the tests, according to an article in The Washington Post.

Kiosks equipped with cameras are checking the photos on travelers' IDs.

The TSA said facial recognition helps improve security.

Passengers are not required to participate in facial recognition at the airport.

The passenger steps up to the document checker kiosk and places their ID into a machine. They then look into a camera for five seconds while the machine compares their live photo to the one on their ID. There is still a human agent on hand to make the final call for the time being.

The TSA says the technology has been better at verifying IDs than the manual process.

The agency has not yet released data about how often the system identifies people incorrectly.

Research has indicated facial recognition can be less accurate identifying people of color.

The agency is also running a second test at a few airports where the passenger doesn't have to present a physical ID. Instead, their face is their ID.

Machines at Delta compare passengers' live faces to photos from a database mostly from passports. The system presently works for passengers with Global Entry or PreCheck passengers, which passengers must request from Delta.