Myth vs. Fact: Enhancing the Air Travel Experience Through Facial Recognition

As I was about to embark on a recent international flight, a fellow passenger looked at me and said, "This system really creeps me out." It struck me as remarkably coincidental that out of the 319 individuals on that flight, she voiced her concerns to someone like me—an industry insider who thrives on discussing innovative solutions and the wonders of travel! I was eager to enlighten her about the extraordinary security measures and myriad of advantages technology brings to improving and enhancing the travel experience. Perhaps, just perhaps, I could transform her outlook entirely.

This encounter got me thinking, and I began to contemplate some of the common misconceptions and apprehensions I have heard throughout my years immersed in the travel industry's dynamic landscape and embrace of cutting-edge technological solutions. 

Myth 1: I may be compromising security by minimizing the number of steps in my travel journey and reducing the amount of documentation I present.

Fact: The stages of your journey have been made more secure with the use of advanced technology that is better than what a person can do. These advancements have elevated security to unprecedented levels, creating an environment where situational awareness thrives and officers are empowered to maintain a comprehensive and well-rounded security landscape.

Myth 2: I'm constantly under surveillance and being tracked in every part of the airport.

Fact: The truth is that the solution is finely tuned to only "capture" individuals from specific distances, meticulously customized to suit each unique use case and strategic location for capturing the optimal facial image. These solutions are purposefully designed to avoid monitoring the bustling crowd as they pass by, the person standing in line behind you, or even someone casually strolling through the terminal. 

Myth 3: Hackers will swoop in and steal my photos, leaving my identity vulnerable and exposed.

Fact: The photos captured for identity verification aren't stored in the conventional image format you might envision. Instead, they are transformed into a facial template with a complex arrangement of zeros and ones. This encryption makes it impossible for anyone to reverse-engineer these templates into photographs. Your identity remains safely shielded from any unauthorized intrusion. Your privacy remains intact.

Myth 4: Facial recognition technology is inherently biased and skews the results and applicability for use cases. 

Fact: Recent results from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) reflect that Facial Recognition algorithms have been shown to be able to achieve more than 99.5% accuracy when only scanning a passenger's face once, provided that multiple images of the passenger are already included in the database. NIST also tested the algorithms on male and female subjects from different national origins, with only these identifiers included in the photos. The algorithms demonstrated high accuracy across all these variations, with only rare false negatives, which were slightly more common for women.

Myth 5: Embarking on a journey requires using facial recognition and/or other emerging technology systems across the board.

Fact: This one is a little more nuanced, so let's dive into it by breaking it down into two key categories: International and Domestic travel.

• International: A congressional mandate compels the collection of biometric identification from all foreign nationals at the border, which for international air travel is at the boarding gate. This mandate also applies to land and sea.Therefore, U.S. citizens can opt out of using the systems, while foreign citizens must comply with the requirements.

• Domestic: Opting-in is the name of the game, allowing you to decide whether to embrace the enhanced experiences that the airlines, in close collaboration with the TSA and CBP, are diligently crafting.

Myth 6: Existing protections do not adequately protect my privacy rights when using facial recognition technology or other biometric solutions.

Fact: There are several protections in place to ensure that the privacy rights of travelers are protected, including public notice/signage at airports where systems are in use, minimizing the amount of biometric data needed to verify identity, encrypting all biometric data from unauthorized access, and conducting ongoing audits of systems and user access. Additionally, DHS publicly publishes Privacy Impact Assessments when new technologies are used in the field, providing the traveling public with formalized privacy protections.

As travel picks up, many travelers such as this woman will use the many enhancements that both U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Transportation Security Administration have pioneered in recent years. These changes will streamline and enhance the passenger journey but should be understood by travelers so they are at ease. 

While my experience and focus for  these insights was on air the solutions and process also apply to land, and sea. The travel industry has embraced the opportunity to utilize technology to provide a seamless travel experience for their passengers with tools and solutions through industry partners and working with CBP and TSA.