Facial recognition will be necessary at the airport check-in
According to ethical hacking specialists, the U.S. government’s interest in implementing facial recognition technology at airports has increased especially since the starting of Donald Trump’s administration, this despite opposition from the groups that advocate the privacy of users of services such as airlines.
After Trump signed an executive order, this
technology is expected to be implemented at the top 20 U.S. airports by the end
of 2021. Its main function would be to expedite the entry and registration of
passengers, as government officials mentioned.
However, ethical hacking specialists say the
government’s main goal in implementing this technology is to track travelers
leaving the U.S., verifying their biometric data and sending records to the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ) as a prevention of possible criminal
acts.
This is a new reach in the implementation of
face recognition technology, which had already been implemented by some
technology companies, such as Apple, and even at border points in the U.S. and
other countries. It is believed that the government could collect information
from up to 100 million travelers a year.
The intention of the U.S. government is that
citizens of and green card holders can dodge this permanent tracking activity,
so their information would be removed from the government’s systems twelve
hours after their trip. However, this requirement will be mandatory for
tourists, whose records will be stored for up to two weeks.
Supporters of this plan argue that its
implementation would facilitate the process of entry and departure of tourists
at airports; According to spokespersons from British
Airways, which has been using this technology, streamlining the process
benefits more than 250,000 users a year, halved the documentation process at
airports.
On the other hand, ethical hacking specialists
from the International Institute of Cyber Security (IICS) point out the serious
privacy drawbacks of using this technology. “Given the incidents of
privacy violations we frequently hear, it is really doubtful to think that
people’s information may be 100% protected in the hands of large companies and
governments,” they said.
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