According to the new system under test, travelers place the passport on a specialized machine, then look at a fixed camera that takes their picture and compares it to the identification papers submitted.
The agency charged with securing US airports is testing the use of facial recognition technology at a handful of airports across the country.
The Transportation Safety Administration says the technology is an effort to more accurately identify the millions of passengers who fly through its airports each day.
“What we’re trying to do with this is help the officers actually identify the traveler,” said Jason Lim, an official in the agency’s technology development division.
How does the new mechanism work?
According to the new system under test, travelers place the passport on a specialized machine, then look at a fixed camera that takes their picture and compares it to the identification papers submitted. Then, the technology checks to make sure the person at the airport matches the ID they provide.
Lim explained that the camera does not work all the time and captures anyone passing by, but rather it turns on as soon as the traveler begins the procedures for putting the passport in the place designated for that.
He added, “Once the photo is taken and the identity is verified, the device deletes the photo and it is not kept.”
The technology is currently in place at 16 airports. In addition to Baltimore, they are used at Reagan Airport near Washington, D.C., and airports in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Jose, Gulfport-Biloxi, and Jackson, Mississippi.
