The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has admitted that it has rapidly been expanding the use of abusive and invasive facial recognition software at American airports. The technology, pioneered by Communist China for their country’s draconian “social credit score” system, is already being used in 16 of the nation’s biggest airports. Once again, America’s leaders look at Communist China’s systems with envy, and seek to implement them here.
The TSA is seeking to replace human identity verification at airports with machine-based identity verification. At least, that’s what the agency is saying out loud. But the reality is that this is becoming one of the largest and most invasive biometric data-gathering options in US history.
Every traveler at the airports where this technology is in place is getting scanned. Travelers at airports where the tech is in place have to stop at a security checkpoint. After inserting their driver’s license into the machine, they stand there while it scans their face. If your face matches your ID, it lets you through. If the technology decides you don’t look enough like your driver’s license photo, you have to be inspected by a human TSA agent.
As if air travel wasn’t already enough of a hassle thanks to the TSA’s security theater. Take your shoes off and then stand in the nude body scanner, please. Oh, and it’s worth mentioning, that despite all the “security” measures implemented by the TSA since it was invented after the 9/11 attacks, the agency has never caught a single terrorist or stopped a single attempted terror attack.
Privacy advocates are asking whether the government will be permanently storing the biometric data gathered from every traveler’s facial scan. The TSA reassuringly states, “Of course not!” If you believe that, we would also note that this same government still says that the COVID vaccines are “safe and effective.”
On the other hand, TSA administrator David Pekoske says that eventually, Americans will be able to go to the airport without the need to carry an ID. Naturally, they’d need to save everyone’s biometric data for this to be possible. And was there anyone out there complaining about “having to carry an ID at the airport?” Was this really a problem that needed to be solved?
Since there is no legislation in place to prevent the use of this technology by the government, some of the risks are obvious. There’s no reason why the government could not or would not keep expanding the technology to every area of life. And that means facial recognition scanning could eventually be installed everywhere, to track every person’s movements at all times. Just like China.
The Biden regime says the technology will make air travel safer, but how so? Again, there hasn’t been a single terrorist attack involving planes since 9/11. How do you get “safer” than zero terrorist attacks?
It’s becoming increasingly impossible to trust the motivations of any federal government agency in the United States, especially ones like the TSA which is a sub-branch of the Department of Homeland Security. If you look at how deeply the intel agencies have control of social media companies, it’s easy to see how someone could just flip a switch and set up a mirror image of China’s social credit system. Say goodbye to freedom of speech if that happens. Post the wrong opinion on Facebook, and the government shuts you down and won’t allow you to fly on a plane or go to a movie.
Fortunately, some Members of Congress are starting to ask questions about the implementation of this abusive technology. Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH) has noted the obvious comparison between the TSA’s system and the same tech being used in China and Russia. Hopefully, Congress will step in and put a stop to this monstrosity before it expands even further.
