The Transportation Security Administration is upgrading its surveillance tools to a whole new level. The agency has signed a $128 million contract to enhance airport security nationwide using biometric technology.
Airports and government buildings already use Idemia’s Credential Authentication Technology (CAT), which confirms the identity and flight information of travelers using enhanced fraudulent ID detection capabilities. However, the new funds will be used over seven years to upgrade CAT to the second-generation system, a self-service model that requires users to position their faces in front of a camera for a biometric scan.
The scan captures biographic data to face match one’s live image to their government-issued photo ID.
“The second generation CAT-2 systems allow for automated identity verification with an integrated camera for biometric and self-service capabilities. This new contract with Idemia will enable TSA to test, manufacture, procure and deploy over 1,500 new CAT-2 systems to airport security checkpoints nationwide,” TSA reported in a press release.
Idemia advises that individuals will have the option to opt out of the 1:1 face match and instead be processed manually by a TSA agent. Yet any frequent traveler knows from experience the level of respect and courtesy shown by TSA agents.
The TSA has also tested facial identification, which means comparing a passenger’s live image to a database of pre-enrolled reference photos. The TSA doesn’t mention screening the iris of an individual’s eye, but Idemia markets this security capability on its website.
Every power grab by the government in the past three years has been attributed to Covid-19, which this move contends as well. The agency “must prioritize the health and safety of our officers and the traveling public” which entails social distancing and reduced contact between officers and passengers. Biden’s 2021 executive order on rebuilding trust in government is also cited as one of the TSA’s motivations for the privacy infringement.
If anything, this move only weakens the people's trust in the government even more. The important question Americans must ask is: When is too much?
To what extent will the government continue to encroach on our bodily autonomy for data collection? We know privacy invasions never stop under the government’s will, as seen inside the Chinese Communist Party.
Some cities like San Francisco have banned facial recognition technology, and other cities and states have the ability to take action against this federal intrusion.
States also have the power to join Convention of States in the movement to rein in the abusive federal government once and for all. Please sign the petition below to show your support.
