Airports are already a source of extreme frustration for travelers, especially when it comes to TSA checkpoints. Now, they’re ready to get even more invasive, as airports will begin using facial recognition software at check-ins.
The new security system takes a scan of every visa holder’s face in order to match it to an already existing passport. The system remembers the facial geometry to check for anyone who is trying to illegally enter or leave the United States.
While this might sound like a good idea in theory, there are terrifying implications and there’s no proof that it actually works.
In a commentary piece for The Daily Signal, Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee explained the screenings will be mandatory for all international flyers — including Americans — and wrote that stunning statistics show these screenings are not nearly as effective as they could be.
“Homeland Security is hoping to use this technology accurately 96 percent of the time,” Lee explained.
“But even at that rate, 1 of 25 travelers would still be misidentified and improperly flagged by Homeland Security,” he continued.
The most concerning part, however, is the privacy concern.
Homeland Security is technically supposed to delete those screenings from its systems after 14 days, but yet there are no security systems in place that force the agency to keep that standard. That means personal information about the travelers that’s contained in the screenings could be available on government computer systems for an indefinite period of time — a period that information could be vulnerable to hacking.
Do you think that this new technology is taking things too far, or is it for our own protection? Where do we draw the line between safety and security? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
by Thomas Robertson via enVolve
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