The TSA likes facial recognition at airports. Passengers and politicians, not so much.
Few passengers are told they can opt out, and when they do, airport staff may push back
US lawmakers are trying to extend the use of facial recognition at airports, despite many airline passengers objecting to the practice.
US airports have used facial scanners since 2017, when the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) started trials of the tech in the hope it would improve security and speed boarding times. 250 airports currently use facial recognition.
According to a May 2025 report [PDF] by the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB), facial recognition at airports is accurate.
Related Knowledge Center: Digital privacy and data security
If you’re online, you’re generating a constant stream of information about yourself — sometimes voluntarily, sometimes unwittingly — that is assembled and used to craft your online experience. And generate wealth for data brokers. Meanwhile, designers and managers of the digital infrastructure on which the world depends are engaged in a never-ending effort to thwart attempts, by both criminal enterprises and state actors, to exploit vulnerabilities in those systems.
Signalgate | State surveillance