When you plan to fly, there are several things you’re expected to do before you get to the secure side of the airport and go on the plane. However, sometimes life happens and you may not be in compliance as much as you originally planned or expected. Or maybe you just don’t want to follow directions because of, you know, reasons.
We’ve gone through some of these situations in the past:
- Can you fly if you don’t have your ID?
- Can you refuse a TSA patdown?
- Can you actively avoid your bags going through the airport scanner?
- A lesson in poor decisions: what happens when you ignore a Customs & Border Patrol agent
To change gears for a moment, in the past few years the U.S. federal government, as have other governments around the world, has invested in facial recognition and biometrics. It started about a half-dozen years ago, as a way to identify people as they entered the country by plane. The TSA began introducing it not long after, to identify people before they fly, be it internationally or domestically.
The program has slowly expanded and many, many TSA security kiosks now ask to take a picture of you. Using that, the ID you present, and the comparison of the information you’ve given to the list of passengers airlines have in the system, is how the TSA decides to allow you through (or leads to you getting arrest, as this woman discovered).
When the program was first introduced, there were signs that said that getting your photo taken was voluntary and you were allowed to refuse, if you wished.
PC: Twitter/Juli Lyskawa
The “take your photo” aspect is, as we said, a few years old now. And sometimes rules change, particularly when they’re beyond that original point of being “introductory.” So the question has been raised by more than one person:
Can you refuse to get your photo taken at TSA?
Yes. Happily, it’s still fine to do.
Signage at the TSA kiosk still says so:
And the TSA’s website says so, as well:
TSA is currently updating CAT-2 screens with clear language that notifies travelers they may decline having their photo taken. TSA also has signage posted at the checkpoint indicating that the technology is optional and travelers may decline having their photo taken. Travelers under 18 are not photographed.
TSA is grounding its exploration of facial recognition solutions in rigorous scientific study and analysis to include alignment with National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards and applies stringent safeguards for traveler privacy and convenience:
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Standard ID credential verification is in place – Travelers who decide not to participate in the use of facial recognition technology will receive an alternative ID credential check by the TSO at the podium. The traveler will not experience any negative consequences for choosing not to participate. There is no issue and no delay with a traveler exercising their rights to not participate in the automated biometrics matching technology.
What happens if you refuse?
Anecdotally, not much.
If you refuse to get your photo taken at the TSA security kiosk, the TSA officer will just scan your ID and ask for your boarding pass. They’ll then visually verify that you are who you say you are. No big deal.
Why are they using facial scanners to begin with?
TSA officers (and border patrol officers) are only human and there’s a small chance they could make a mistake. Using facial recognition has less chance for error because they’re not comparing your face per se, but the biometrics of your face.
Of course, it’s not foolproof. Facial recognition is show it has problems with correctly identifying people with dark skin. It doesn’t work as well in low-quality or unfavorable conditions. And, since peoples’ faces change over time, facial recognition has problems with that, as well.
Will they eventually make facial recognition a requirement?
Who knows? At least one country already does. And over time, more and more undoubtedly will. But us? Again…who knows? I’ll tell you one thing though transition to full automation for all eligible travelers would be time-consuming and expensive, and would meet major resistance. So IF it were to happen here, it wouldn’t be for quite some time.
Meanwhile, heads up that “they” are taking your photograph ALLLLL the time. Throughout airports. On the streets. Everywhere.
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