US airports are now rolling out facial recognition technology to scan travelers' faces before they board – and Americans, at least, can opt out.
More than 230 US airports already use facial recognition technology, according to the website of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the federal agency in charge of border security.
Governments, meanwhile, claim that facial recognition will reduce the need for paper tickets and make travel more efficient. But it remains flawed and controversial: Early rollouts of facial recognition at airports were plagued by technical and reliability issues, and independent tests cast doubt on the effectiveness of facial recognition algorithms that performed poorly on non-white faces.
There are also privacy and legal concerns: After all, it's the airlines themselves that directly collect facial recognition data, not CBP.
Delta Air Lines began scanning the faces of departing passengers in 2018, and other airlines like JetBlue Airways quickly followed suit. Airlines collect facial scans as travelers board to verify their identity, but those scans are also passed on to governments to check whether the passenger is on a watch list, such as one who has overstayed their visa.
The government can store these photos for anywhere from a few hours to decades, depending on whether you're a citizen or not. The data is also stored in multiple government databases and can be viewed by border patrol agents when you arrive or leave the US.
But if you're an American, it's easy to opt out, and it's your right.
A sign letting Americans opt out of having their faces scanned. Image credit: Juli Lyskawa / X
You may see signs around the airport saying you can opt out of facial recognition, but be careful as there may be no signs at all or no visible signs.
Either way, the CBP website makes it clear that U.S. citizens can opt out of these face scan checks: “U.S. citizens who do not wish to submit to having their facial photograph captured pursuant to these processes may request alternative processing, which is typically [border agent].”
You may have to opt out multiple times, from the time you arrive at the airport until you're seated on the plane.
Only U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents (green card holders) can opt out of facial recognition for international flights. Anyone, regardless of nationality, can opt out of facial recognition for domestic U.S. flights.
The opt-out works by notifying an agent or airline employee when your face is scanned, and a border control officer or airline staff member will manually check your passport and boarding pass, just as they did before the facial recognition system was deployed.
If you're not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, you can't opt out of facial recognition. There are a few exceptions, such as Canadian citizens who don't need a visa to enter the U.S., and diplomatic visa holders abroad. For U.S. citizens (and permanent residents), opting out is a right, even if it's not always clear or obvious from what you see at the airport.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group, said: “It may sound cliché, but the key to rejecting facial recognition at this point is vigilance.”
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Originally published on May 13, 2019 and updated on July 29, 2024.