Feds Respond to Virginia Lawmakers’ Privacy Concerns About Airports’ Facial Recognition Screening

Identification screening technology that launched during the pandemic to reduce airport check-in times has helped improve security and travelers’ experiences, but carries a privacy concern stemming from the capture and storage of passengers’ photos.

Virginia lawmakers, privacy advocates and others have questioned how images of citizens are used and stored, and how peoples’ rights are being protected.

A Credential Authentication Technology unit. (Photo courtesy of the Transportation Security Administration)

The Transportation Security Administration said in a Thursday announcement that the images captured on the airport screening technology known as Credential Authentication Technology (CAT-2) “are never stored” or “used for any other purpose than immediate identification.”

House Communication, Technology and Innovation Committee Chair Cliff Hayes, D-Chesapeake, said tools like CAT-2 are helpful, but safeguards are important to protect civil liberties and privacy as the technology advances.

“Travelers deserve both speed and security when it comes to travel, but it’s not at the expense of their privacy,” Hayes told the Mercury.

CAT-2 was first tested at Ronald Reagan Washington Airport in August 2020. Since then, TSA said it has been using the cameras carefully in conjunction with the research from the National Institute of Standards and Technology standards.

The administration said CAT-2 allows TSA officers to scan a traveler’s photo identification card and capture a real-time photo of them, too. Once the images of the traveler are confirmed, that person is able to proceed for further screening. CAT-2 also includes a plexiglass shield to minimize contact between TSA officers and travelers, and uses a secure Internet connection allowing the units to verify that an individual is ticketed for air travel, eliminating the need to show a boarding pass.

Passengers who do not wish to participate in the facial matching process can opt out in favor of an alternative identity verification process, TSA said. The CAT-2 screens are being updated with language that notifies travelers they may decline having their photo taken.

Hayes said after the technology was piloted in Virginia, he visited multiple airports including Dulles and Norfolk International, and declined to use the technology.

To TSA’s credit, Hayes said, he had no problem being screened. Officers identified him manually using his identification card and boarding pass.

Hayes said he hopes the procedures and policy governing the photos will be codified to ensure travelers’ privacy remains a priority and that their photos won’t be stored or used beyond screenings.

“What’s to prevent that from changing and then all of a sudden, a different administration or depending who’s overseeing it, they could change that policy,” Hayes said. “It needs to be codified, I believe, and absent the lack of any federal law, I think the states need to begin to address that, just as we did with the Consumer Data Protection Act.”

The Act provides residents certain rights that shield personal data collection by businesses.

by Nathaniel Cline, Virginia Mercury

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