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I Opted Out of Facial Recognition at the Airport – It Wasn't Easy

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Re: I Opted Out of Facial Recognition at the Airport – It Wasn't Easy

#21

Post by resonanttoe »

mytailorisrich wrote: post #16

I don't understand the problem here. How does the facial recognition system work? I'm thinking that biometric passports contain the necessary data and that the airline has already got then by scanning the passport at some point so that it quick and easy to use facial recognition at boarding time. If so, it's pointless to request to opt out while boarding, really. In any case, there is no anonymity in air travel (this…

The point this article misses entirely is that the Facial recognition system is now at the gate which is ostensibly Delta’s territory.

It isn’t US Boarder Control running the facial control system, its Delta, Southwest, or anyone else, which has implications about the privacy of the biometric data, that up until this point hasn’t been collected by Airlines, only Boarder entities.

That said, in order to boot strap this system, Delta et., al. would have had to either; 1. Build their own database of biometric and facial data that they believe was reliable (unlikely) 2. Get a full and continually updated copy from CBP (Probably noisy) 3. Use an API made available by CBP that acts as a Biometric/Facial oracle.

I’ve heard rumblings that it’s 3, but I can’t cite anything to back that claim up, so grains of salt.

Re: I Opted Out of Facial Recognition at the Airport – It Wasn't Easy

#22

Post by kowdermeister »

aurbano wrote: post #19
pelario wrote: post #3

Very click-baity. Below the only part that actually relates to the title: The announcement came as we began to board. Last month, I was at Detroit’s Metro Airport for a connecting flight to Southeast Asia. I listened as a Delta Air Lines staff member informed passengers that the boarding process would use facial recognition instead of passport scanners. As a privacy-conscious person, I was uncomfortable boarding this…

Agreed. What is the privacy concern of allowing face recognition if you are letting them scan your passport?

Maybe you don't want new data points on your face in a database.

Re: I Opted Out of Facial Recognition at the Airport – It Wasn't Easy

#23

Post by dawnerd »

aurbano wrote: post #19
pelario wrote: post #3

Very click-baity. Below the only part that actually relates to the title: The announcement came as we began to board. Last month, I was at Detroit’s Metro Airport for a connecting flight to Southeast Asia. I listened as a Delta Air Lines staff member informed passengers that the boarding process would use facial recognition instead of passport scanners. As a privacy-conscious person, I was uncomfortable boarding this…

Agreed. What is the privacy concern of allowing face recognition if you are letting them scan your passport?

Exactly, they already have your face in the system. Opting out isn't going to change that.

Airports are likely already using facial recognition anyways. PDX had these installed not too long ago: https://www.dormakaba.com/us-en/solutions/products/entrance-...

What makes these interesting is they're getting stereoscopic imaging with multiple camera angles of video. That can potentially be used for some invasive tracking.

Re: I Opted Out of Facial Recognition at the Airport – It Wasn't Easy

#25

Post by mytailorisrich »

resonanttoe wrote: post #21
mytailorisrich wrote: post #16

I don't understand the problem here. How does the facial recognition system work? I'm thinking that biometric passports contain the necessary data and that the airline has already got then by scanning the passport at some point so that it quick and easy to use facial recognition at boarding time. If so, it's pointless to request to opt out while boarding, really. In any case, there is no anonymity in air travel (this…

The point this article misses entirely is that the Facial recognition system is now at the gate which is ostensibly Delta’s territory. It isn’t US Boarder Control running the facial control system, its Delta, Southwest, or anyone else, which has implications about the privacy of the biometric data, that up until this point hasn’t been collected by Airlines, only Boarder entities. That said, in order to boot strap thi…

My understanding is that biometric data are contained in your passport, which is already scanned by airlines when you check in and/or board planes.

Here they are using this information to automatically check that it is in fact you instead of having a staff member look at you and check against your passport's photo.

Re: I Opted Out of Facial Recognition at the Airport – It Wasn't Easy

#27

Post by kowdermeister »

> Will we only wake up once we no longer have the choice to opt out?

yes :/

Many commenters say that your data / picture is in the system already, which is fine, but your passport photo can be 10 - 15 years old and these systems record how you look now. That's the question if you are comfortable providing it.

What you can't do anything about is CCTV and I think it's a safe bet that they are already equipped with facial recognition and other ML tracking technologies. It's just a question of which database you can avoid being registered in.

Re: I Opted Out of Facial Recognition at the Airport – It Wasn't Easy

#28

Post by jddj »

arkadiyt wrote: post #12
pelario wrote: post #3

Very click-baity. Below the only part that actually relates to the title: The announcement came as we began to board. Last month, I was at Detroit’s Metro Airport for a connecting flight to Southeast Asia. I listened as a Delta Air Lines staff member informed passengers that the boarding process would use facial recognition instead of passport scanners. As a privacy-conscious person, I was uncomfortable boarding this…

Agreed about the clickbaity title, but what they were trying to imply is still true. Here's an example of Jake Williams attempting to opt-out of Delta facial scanning and immediately being scrutinized for it: https://twitter.com/MalwareJake/status/1144789516684877824

He says there that the US is one of the few countries which doesn't do exit checks for immigration.

Is that true? I hadn't thought about this.

I know the Schengen zone does, as well as China and much of Latin America, but in my experience the UK doesn't. Does Australia/New Zealand/Canada (my feeling is that Australia doesn't)? What about Asian and African countries?

Re: I Opted Out of Facial Recognition at the Airport – It Wasn't Easy

#29

Post by tastroder »

mytailorisrich wrote: post #16

I don't understand the problem here. How does the facial recognition system work? I'm thinking that biometric passports contain the necessary data and that the airline has already got then by scanning the passport at some point so that it quick and easy to use facial recognition at boarding time. If so, it's pointless to request to opt out while boarding, really. In any case, there is no anonymity in air travel (this…

So, what you're saying is... there's no problem because people have already given up anyway? At the very least opting out gives them a data point that their theatric procedures aren't readily accepted by everybody.

Re: I Opted Out of Facial Recognition at the Airport – It Wasn't Easy

#30

Post by mb_72 »

hazz99 wrote: post #2

I've recently traveled outside Australia and used the facial recognition "smart" system. It was completely non-obvious that we could opt-out - it was only implied by the text. After going through security, I asked an official if I could've opted out. They said yes, and said I could flag someone down. When I returned, I tried to do so - but there was no-one around! Its an automated system, and almost impossible to opt…

What airport is this? At Adelaide airport arrivals I always choose to go through the manual processing queue, i.e. the one non-Australian citizens have to use. Half the time it's faster than the smart-gate system queue, and even if it's not an extra 10 minutes after 26hrs + of traveling isn't going to kill me.

As for departures, it wasn't obvious to me - like with you - that I could opt-out. I'll give it a shot next time and see what happens. Am expecting some annoyed and suspicious glances! :)

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