Senators want TSA to scale back facial recognition at airports

A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation this week that would scale back the Transportation Security Administration’s facial recognition program, giving travelers the right to not have their faces scanned when passing through airports.

The lawmakers say their push for the Traveler Privacy Protection Act comes as the Department of Homeland Security component seeks to expand the use of facial recognition at hundreds of airports.

“Folks don’t want a national surveillance state, but that’s exactly what the TSA’s unchecked expansion of facial recognition technology is leading us to,” Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., a co-sponsor of the bill and a longtime critic of the government’s facial recognition program, said in a statement.

Specifically, the bill would require the TSA to clearly inform passengers of their right to not participate in the DHS facial recognition program and bar the agency from providing worse treatment to passengers that choose not to participate. 

The legislation would also forbid the TSA from storing traveler facial recognition data indefinitely and from using the technology to target people or conduct mass surveillance.

“The TSA subjects countless law-abiding Americans to excessive facial recognition screenings as they travel, invading passengers’ privacy without even making it clear that they can opt out of the screening,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., another co-sponsor of the legislation, said in a statement.

Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Roger Marshall, R-Kan., are also co-sponsors of the bill. A press release about the legislation also touted support from Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., as well as the ACLU, the American Federation of Government Employees, Public Citizen, EPIC, the Project On Government Oversight, and Fight for the Future.

Earlier this year, the DHS inspector general initiated an audit of TSA’s facial recognition program. Merkley had previously led a letter from a bipartisan group of senators calling for the watchdog to open an investigation into TSA’s facial recognition plans, noting that the technology is not foolproof and effective alternatives were already in use.