This month, a facial recognition system at U.S. airports completed its pilot stage and moved to official implementation.
As of September 26, there are 57 major American airports where passengers will be asked to allow their faces to be scanned by a device before being cleared to board flights departing the country.
As part of the Traveler Verification Service, facial images are transmitted to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which compares the photo to the one you provided for your passport/visa and then compares that data to the airline's flight manifest to determine whether your identity checks out.
Potentially, the U.S. government could deny you the right to leave the country based on your face scan.
The scheme is called "biometric exit." Although it has become prevalent in other countries, it's a new feature for U.S. border security. The authorization for the program harks back to 2001, when the U.S. Congress responded to the attacks of September 11, 2001, by passing the sweeping Patriot Act.
Naturally, many citizens are concerned about the potential for abuses by the federal government and others.
Can you opt out of face scans before boarding flights?
Signage informing you of your right to decline the face scan may be nonexistent or hard to see among the crowds of boarding passengers, but you do have that right.
Just as the Transportation Security Administration allows passengers to opt out of full-body scans at security checkpoints and you're also permitted to opt out of face scans at TSA's identification checkpoints, it's possible to opt out of face scans at the boarding gate, too.
But that doesn't mean the refusal will be smooth, easy, or time-saving.
You are allowed to decline the face scan verbally with an airline staff member. You will then receive a manual document inspection, just like in the old days, and someone will check your passport the human way.
As at TSA checkpoints, passengers who decline scans at boarding gates may have to wait a considerable length of time for the right person to be summoned to conduct the inspection. But as long as your passport and ticket are in order, you are unlikely to miss your flight.
However, there's no getting out of having to share your identity. "Generally, there is no opportunity for an individual to decline to provide information that is required in order to travel to or from the United States," according to the Department of Homeland Security.
So if you opt out (and please do so politely), you'll still be verified, and the government will still make its determination whether you're cleared to leave the country. You'll just be submitting to that process without the boarding face scan, and, while you wait, other passengers will continue to board the flight ahead of you. So you'd better not need to get to the overhead bins first.
How long does the government retain face scans?
During the system's testing period, the TSA said it only retained faced scans for "a limited period of time"—a vague promise that means very little.
Since then, the New York Times reported the images are "deleted within 12 hours."
The TSA also claims it only uses the system to verify identity and not to "profile and deport travelers," but it's understandable if some passengers have doubts about the federal government's potential to abuse that promise.
The program explicitly allows the airlines to "leverage their own technology" by using their own camera systems to collect the facial scans, raising the potential for unscrupulous corporations to commercialize the collected data.
According to a staff report from the TSA, there is also evidence to suggest that the biometric scanning system's failure rate "may fall disproportionately on some groups, including older individuals and those who have been historically disadvantaged and marginalized."
In other words, if you have wrinkles or a dark skin tone, you may end up requiring a manual inspection anyway, because the system, as currently designed, works best on younger people with lighter-toned skin.