I think something like this could be really awesome, but only if paired with appropriate legislation to regulate how, when, and where it can be used. It may be voluntary and only used at the security check right now, but it’s only a matter of time until somebody suggests they scan every face in the entire airport, or every face in public buildings, etc.

Now is the time to set appropriate boundaries.

Here we go.

“As pointed out in Fast Company’s story, a 97% effectiveness rate across more than two million airline passengers per day means that, for over 60,000 of those people, the biometrics won’t work properly if it’s used in every airport in the country.”

Would they wait until that number is closer to 100% before they make it permanent? Probably not.

“TSA Administrator David Pekoske said it would eventually be required across the board, citing effectiveness and efficiency. He also said “in our own testing, we show no statistically-significant variation across demographic groups,” going on to say the TSA wants to be as transparent as it can about the program. However, the agency told Fast Company it will not release the results of its two years pilot testing publicly.”

Not releasing it publicly is far from transparent. I mean I’m glad some senators voiced concern against it, but I don’t like think their reasoning that’s it’s more likely to improperly identity people of african or asian descent is a good one. Who cares how many and of what descent they are. It has the potential to be inconvenient and unsafe for any type of person. I don’t think we should be pushing imperfect technology in situations like this.

Agreed. It’s also only a matter of time before some TSA glorified mall cop uses it to stalk someone, sadly.