Airport security

TSA Wants Your Face To Be Your Passport — But There’s One Big Problem With That


You’d be hard pressed to find a traveler who would describe getting through security at Los Angeles International Airport as an orderly or peaceful experience. Even when the threat level is deemed moderate, long lines, stringent security, and barking security agents are more or less the norm.

But as of this week, the Transportation Security Administration is trying to streamline the experience, with an opt-in pilot program using biometric facial recognition technology, which is aimed at verifying and matching a passenger’s identity to their travel documents. It’s intended to automate the often repetitive and human error-prone process of verifying a passenger’s boarding pass and passport several times over before boarding. The pilot project is being run at the boarding gate—documents will also be manually checked during the test program to ensure no security lapses—in a partnership with British Airways, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and LAX’s Tom Bradley International terminal.