Airports in US may use facial recognition for ID verification

The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the US has come up with a plan to implement the use of facial recognition in airports around the states. The idea is to use facial recognition wherever there’s a need for checking ID proofs.

According to The Verge, all visitors leaving the US as well as citizens of the US will have to have a facial recognition check up at the airports. “As soon as you check in for arrivals or departure, we’re going to stage your photo in that database. We want to make it available for every transaction in the airport where you have to show an ID today,” said John Wagner, deputy assistant commissioner at CBP.

The system is currently in test for flights between Atlanta and Tokyo, which could be expanded to seven other airports over the coming summer. The system has been recommended by the 9/11 commission and has been actively taken up under President Trump’s regime.

There are some issues with this biometric verification process when implemented on a large scale. Firstly, the activity of keeping private data (photos) in the US’ database is one major concern as it contradicts the repealed Privacy Protection act for non-residents of US.

Also, there is the issue of the accuracy of facial recognition. At the current stage, a person would have to lose all facial expressions and face the recognition sensors in a  particular way for instant verification. However, airports are crowded and chaotic, so it remains to be seen how the technology is managed to handle hundreds of people a day on each and every terminal, without delaying operations.

As of now, the CBP states that the only way to ensure no disruption in current pace of operations is to deploy security personnel s at gates and alert them if there's either a photo mismatch or someone on a watch list. They'll decide what comes next, such as reviewing passports, collecting fingerprints or calling in law enforcement.