Who has ever stood in line at an airport? Who has wished that there was an easier way to get through those long lines? According to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), there is now a way. At least, they’re testing a way. They have actually begun testing a new biometric identification system. Which we all knew was coming, but it does make me a little uncomfortable. I’ll get into that later, but first why are they doing it? TSA indicates that the biometric identification will serve as both your proof of identification and your boarding pass. Which means, in theory, that the lines at the airports will be much shorter. But, are you buying it?
First of all, they’re using a finger print as your piece of identification. I know there is talk about facial recognition scans for other airport purposes, so is there a chance we will see that in the future? From a security perspective this is great. Run your finger over top of a scanner, and boom you’re getting through customs and onto the airplane that much faster. This is still in it’s testing phase, so this may or may not get rolled out in the future.
Where I get a bit skeptical is around whether or not, or how this information will be used? I am not a conspiracy theorist, but I do like to err on the side of caution. Is it possible for this information to be used by the Government or other authorities? Or worse yet, could someone hack in and get this information? My hope is that they can’t, but I do think about these things from time to time. So should you be giving this information to TSA? In this instance, I’m going to say yes. I think that if you want to travel, you have to play by the rules so to speak. Otherwise, you’re not going to be able to go anywhere.
That being said, the rules themselves have to make sense. As someone who has a hard time with arbitrary rules, I think that rules need to have a purpose. They need to make sense. And, the way the TSA is explaining this one, it does. Or at least to me. No one likes to stand in lines at the airport. We all just want to get to our destination. Whether that’s visiting a loved one, or just trying to get home from a long business trip. We are impatient by nature and we want to just get through it. And it sounds like this will help with that.
As I mentioned, this is in it’s testing phase, and it is a voluntary program. It is only available at the Denver International Airport and at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International airport. The technology actually matches your finger print data on site to what you’ve previously provided to TSA if you’ve enrolled in the TSA Precheck. I think this is a really great way to use technology in order to keep us all safe and make our travel experiences a little bit better.