Facial recognition at US airports becoming routine, researchers warn

Georgetown University researchers have released yet another report warning of the potential dangers and ineffectiveness of the beginnings of routine facial recognition scanning by certain airlines at a handful of airports nationwide.

The new report, which was released Thursday, comes on the heels of a related 2016 report showing that half of Americans’ faces are already in a facial recognition database.

“As currently envisioned, the program represents a serious escalation of biometric scanning of Americans, and there are no codified rules that constrain it,” the report concludes.

In July 2017, Ars reported that facial-scanning pilot programs are already underway in international departure airports at six American airports—Boston, Chicago, Houston, Atlanta, New York City, and Washington, DC. More are set to expand next year. In a recent privacy assessment issued one month earlier, DHS noted that the “only way for an individual to ensure he or she is not subject to collection of biometric information when traveling internationally is to refrain from traveling.”