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Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Cedar Rapids travelers seem OK with new facial recognition checks
TSA testing technology at 25 airports, including in Cedar Rapids
CEDAR RAPIDS — Marvin Thomas of Detroit, a radiation technologist who frequently flies into and out of Cedar Rapids for his job, is aware the airport is among 25 in the country testing new facial recognition technology.
“No problem — if it makes things easier and safer,” Thomas said, adding he thinks its use may have slowed security clearance a bit on the day he was flying. “It's fine if it makes them more sure of who I am.”
Other passengers, interviewed at The Eastern Iowa Airport by The Gazette on Aug. 4, also had no objections to the new technology, which a few national groups are questioning.
Signs are posted about the facial recognition technology in several places at the airport, and passengers can opt out of having a camera take their picture and compare it to the photo on the ID they present during the security clearance.
Jeff Gorton of Cedar Rapids was waiting to catch a flight to Las Vegas and said he has no problem with the new process.
“It's no bother. If it thwarts terrorism and ID theft, that's good,” Gorton said.
And Mandi Tieskoetter of Cedar Rapids, headed to California, said she saw the facial recognition information sign and decided to try it out.
“It was easy, fast,” she said. “I had no objection, If it makes things more efficient … and helps them be sure who we really are.”
How it works
The Transportation Security Administration, or TSA, is testing the new technology at 25 U.S. airports, including those in Cedar Rapids and Des Moines.
Other airports testing the technology include Denver, Dallas-Fort Worth, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix and San Francisco.
Depending on how the testing goes, TSA has plans to use the technology at 400 airports nationwide.
At those 25 airport security lanes, you might be asked to look into a camera that takes your photo. You also will scan your driver's license or other photo identification. The software compares the snapshot of your face to your ID photo to verify that the two match.
Other checks are happening, too, including making sure your ID is legitimate and whether you belong to a special screening status, such as TSA PreCheck or requirements for extra security measures.
A TSA agent oversees the facial recognition ID verification and can do security checks without the machine if there's a problem. The system works even if your hairstyle or age are different from your ID photo, TSA officials say.
TSA calls the facial recognition system “automated biometric technology.”
It “can play an important role in increasing aviation security effectiveness, particularly at the airport checkpoint, by enhancing current manual identity verification procedures,” TSA regional spokeswoman Jessica Mayle told The Gazette.
Confirming passenger identities “is a central element to security screening,” and the testing is intended to make sure the new technology can “strengthen vetting outcomes,” she said.
“Participation is entirely voluntary,” she said. “Any passenger who does not wish to have their photo taken can simply tell the officer, and they will manually verify their ID, the same way they did before this machine was installed. There is no extra time added to the screening experience by opting out.”
Anecdotally, she said, “I can tell you the opt-out rate is quite low. Passengers appreciate the ease of the experience and the reduced touch points in not having to show their boarding pass.”
Opposition
Some flyers, including Tawana Petty, who has campaigned against police use of facial recognition software, told the Post that a TSA agent at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., told her the facial recognition check was required.
She shared her experience with the Algorithmic Justice League, a nonprofit that opposes the use of facial recognition on flights within the U.S.
The TSA told the Post it couldn't comment on individual interactions at airport security but that it is “committed to protecting passenger privacy, civil rights and civil liberties and ensuring the public's trust as it seeks to improve the passenger experience through its exploration of identity verification technologies.”
Separately, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is using facial recognition technology at some airport border crossings.
Is it accurate?
Some research has found that facial recognition technologies generally outdo humans at verifying that one high-quality image of a person matches another image of the same person, although accuracy varied widely depending on the circumstances.
Previous federal government analysis had found facial recognition systems misidentified people of color far more often than they did white people, although the disparity has narrowed in recent testing.
TSA is citing a 97 percent accuracy rate for its face ID technology, without any racial discrepancy.
U.S. Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., the top Democrat on the committee that oversees the Department of Homeland Security, including TSA, said he wants to see more testing and third-party verification of results from TSA's use of facial recognition software.
Even small error rates could affect many people. If the TSA software verified IDs for the nearly 2.3 million people it is screening on average each day, a 3 percent error rate translates into more than 68,000 people a day.
TSA said anyone having problems or complaints with security screenings can report their experience to customer service at 1-(866) 289-9673.
Passenger reaction
Back at the Cedar Rapids airport, Scott Slykhuis, his wife, daughter and two small grandchildren were waiting for a Las Vegas flight after visiting his mother in Cedar Rapids.
Slykhuis said he had heard about the technology but that he and his family members were not asked to use it and went through a regular security clearance.
“We would have done it (if asked),” he said. “I guess it's fine.”
Danny Johnson, on his way home to South Carolina, said the facial recognition scan doesn’t bother him, especially “if it speeds things up.”
He said he didn’t feel like he had much choice about using it when a TSA agent asked him to put his ID into a machine.
But, he said, “you do always wonder what they might use it (the picture) for.”
The Washington Post contributed to this report.
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