The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has expanded facial recognition technology to at least 25 airports across the U.S. We are collecting information on your experience with facial recognition at a TSA checkpoint. This Algorithmic Justice League (AJL) survey will help us better understand your experience with facial recognition at airport checkpoints.
#InPlaneSight
![]() |
TSA agents must inform passengers of their rights, and there must be clearly visible signage notifying passengers of their ability to proceed without a facial identification scan. |
![]() |
Facial identification scans are not mandatory. Travelers opting out of this program should not encounter additional consequences or additional screenings, pat-downs, interrogations, or even detention, beyond what they would have encountered at a non-facial recognition airport.. |
Thousands of people daily are feeling forced to decide whether to travel or safeguard the privacy of their faces.
A 2019 study by the National
Institute of Standards and Technology tested photos of over 8 million people and found that Asian
and African American people were up to 100 times more likely to be misidentified than White men by facial
recognition technology.
What will happens if my face data is stolen or someone else breaks into my account? In 2019, the Department of Homeland Security’s photos of travelers, which are
used in the agency’s facial recognition program, were stolen in a data breach.
While TSA claims that facial identification scans are not mandatory, it is unclear how travelers will know that
they can “opt-out,” and what the consequences for travelers are if they choose to opt-out.