United States—A group of senators belonging to the two major parties is demanding that the Transportation Security Administration should limit on the use of facial recognition technology because they recommend that travelers’ privacy and civil rights should be spared.
Privacy and Civil Liberties
In a letter today, the group of 14 legislators appealed to Senate leaders to ensure they use the coming reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration as an opportunity to limit the use of facial technology by the TSA agency since only Congress can provide the appropriate oversight, as reported by Associated Press.
The senators wrote, “This technology poses significant threats to our privacy and civil liberties, and Congress should prohibit TSA’s development and deployment of facial recognition tools until rigorous congressional oversight occurs.”
Sens. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore, John Kennedy, R-La, and Roger Marshall, R-Kan, spearheaded the initiative.
The FAA bill is the last must-pass bill on this Congress’s agenda. The agency supervises airline operators and aircraft manufacturers and controls national airspace.
TSA’s Implementation of Facial Recognition Technology
TSA (Transportation Security Administration, which belongs to the Homeland Security Department) has been trying to roll out facial recognition technology in certain airports where the pilot project is underway. The travelers place driver’s licenses with magnetic strips in a slot that reads it and passports with the image of a person against the card reader instead. Consequently, they will gaze at a screen, slightly smaller than an iPad, that takes a picture of their face and compares it with their ID. Technology confirms matches between travelers at the airport with the ID they present and ensures that the identification is authentic. A TSA agent does so.
The agency says the system boosts the verification process without delaying the speed of passengers at the checkpoints.
Balancing Efficiency with Privacy Concerns
Travelers can opt-out, but Pekoske, the TSA administrator, argued last year that this would probably happen in the future as biometrics are more efficient and secure. He gave no timeline.
Critics of smart cities are asking how the data is collected, who controls it, and what happens if there is a hack. Privacy advocates remain concerned that algorithms may be biased, and they seem unsure whether passengers are required to consent to facial recognition technology, as reported by Associated Press.
“It is clear that we are at a critical juncture,” the senators wrote. “The scope of the government’s use of facial recognition on Americans will expand exponentially under TSA’s plans with little to no public discourse or congressional oversight.”