HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- TSA officials held a demonstration Thursday to show new facial identification technology that will be part of security screenings at Richmond International Airport.
While units at TSA security checkpoints called Credential Authentication Technology or CATS, which are the devices that scan your photo ID, are already in use, cameras are being added that use biometrics to get a facial match with your ID.
Not only will the technology make sure the photo ID matches the person at the checkpoint, it will also check whether the information on that ID is accurate.
“Whenever there's an enhancement in security that's good not only for TSA, but for the public. Because it should reinforce the fact that we’re doing the best we can to identify who the people are who are boarding planes,” TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein said. “It’s critical for us to know who you are if you're presenting yourself as to wanting to get onto a flight.”
The technology upgrade will also tell TSA whether travelers have a boarding pass, so you they will no longer need to provide those at security.
Officials said the photos taken are deleted after IDs are verified, but that travelers can opt out and have their IDs validated another way.
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