Horror stories abound about nearly missing flights and it’s even happened to frequent travelers, myself included. But, the next time you’re in a rush or become distracted at the airport, it can be very easy to miss the technological innovation on display all around you. In a short period of time, the technology involved with air travel has evolved significantly, in particular the introduction of biometrics, which is providing an end-to-end, safe and convenient experience for passengers. You may not have noticed, but whether you’re using your smartphone at home completing your reservation or passing through an automated border control gate, biometric technology is reshaping your travel experience.
CLEAR claims to provide a biometric solution for airport security. Available at over 50 airports, CLEAR lanes provide identity verification for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The service does not replace physical security screening; the primary benefit of enrolling in CLEAR is that you’e permitted to leapfrog to the front of the airport security screening line. Physical screening, in either the TSA PreCheck or standard screening lanes, must still be conducted. The privilege of such line jumping costs as much as $189 annually although several credit cards and elite level membership in select frequent flyer programs provide a statement credit for this yearly membership fee. Originally, CLEAR verified that a person was who they claimed to be using that person’s fingerprints or iris scans. The company is currently rolling out facial recognition technology at its expedited airport checkpoints, which will eventually replace the iris-scanning and fingerprint-checking measures.
To obtain such a level of identity authentication however requires that the identity of the person be verified with certainty during their registration process. There is no room for error because if the biometrics were attached to a person who is not who they claimed to be, airport security could be compromised. This occurred in July of 2022 at Reagan Washington National Airport with someone in the CLEAR identification system. This person attempted to bring live ammunition onto a flight. Further investigation revealed the mismatch and identity breach. The TSA then rechecked the identification materials of CLEAR enrollees, effectively devaluing the benefit CLEAR offered. The company defended the identity breach as a human error that has now been resolved. This situation begged the question: Are biometrics appropriate for identity authentication?
The answer is yes. In fact, it’s ideal. Whether one uses facial recognition, fingerprint matching, or iris matching, biometrics provides excellent tools to confirm that a person is who they claim to be. The stumbling block is confirming with absolute certainty that the person presenting themselves when biometric information is initially collected is the person they claim to be. This is what Credential Authentication Technology (CAT) now being used by the TSA can do. Described as a “security game changer,” CAT checks that the form of identification presented is authentic, and that the person presenting it has a reservation for travel and is eligible to fly that day, all done in near real-time. The next generation of CAT is even more effective, using facial recognition to confirm a person’s identity. Moving forward, the solution is using components of CAT with CLEAR biometrics so that the resulting identity authentication process is tighter and more robust.
The concerns raised by the TSA about the CLEAR identity breach, however, were bigger than the handful of people that the breach may have involved, and have to do with the potential security hole that it represented. A bad actor with malicious intent will look for any weak spot in the airport security layers used by the TSA. Every entry point into the secure (sterile) side of airports is tested to assess such spots and how they can be used to breach security. The more the TSA knows about travelers, the lower the risk in the air system. If identities are hidden or misrepresented, this elevates air system risks that must be addressed with more physical screening, which takes both additional time and money. And other nations have embraced the new technology.
The TSA has a long history of investing in new technologies, at significant costs to taxpayers, as they have most recently with CAT units, the computed tomography screening devices for carryon bags. Yet without biometrics, the basic tenets of airport security will remain the same — namely, detecting prohibited items.The biometrics used by CLEAR represent just one component of the solution. Yet the entire solution is bigger than what CLEAR currently offers. The solution is indeed biometrics, so that every person who presents themselves at an airport can be verified to be the person they claim to be, and that they present no risk to the air system, independent of what they bring with them on their flight. Such a lofty level of credential authentication is the future that the TSA envisions. Anything less would be unacceptable. Offering travelers the most secure and least intrusive airport security experience should be the goal, and biometrics is a critical component needed to meet that objective.
Anyone visiting a Global Entry kiosk after an international flight recently, has most likely gone through the new facial recognition process initiated by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). It allows users to proceed through Global Entry without scanning a passport or fingerprints. CBP has been rolling out this technology in recent years to facilitate an even quicker experience for Global Entry users when passing through US Customs. Unlike the original kiosks, these use a facial scan to confirm identity when arriving at a customs hall kiosk and they also eliminate the need for paper receipts that travelers previously used to show agents. "The new paperless biometric kiosks use facial comparison and leverage mobile officer technology by confirming traveler identity and making an admissibility decision without producing a receipt," a CBP spokesperson said. "This process will continue to enable increasingly contactless processing and a reduced environmental footprint through the elimination of paper receipts."
While the shift towards biometrics raises concerns from some privacy experts and advocates, the use of this technology is expanding and represents significant security enhancements thereby improving convenience for travelers.
Until next time...safe travels.
I love technology and this is another reason why!
Think of what we can do going forward!
Think of how far we have come!
Thanks again for a timely post. ❤️