STOP THE SPREAD OF FACIAL RECOGNITION AT AIRPORTS
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is attempting to dodge accountability while embedding rampant facial recognition technology in airports across the US.
In theory, everyone has the right to opt out of these invasive face scans. But a 2025 report from the Algorithmic Justice League reveals that 99% of travelers were not informed of their rights by TSA officers and a total of 51% of travelers were “unable or too uncomfortable to opt out face scans.” These damning stats make one thing clear: lawmakers must resist industry pressure to embrace facial recognition and enshrine our right to opt out into the law.
Lawmakers have introduced the Travel Privacy Protection Act (TPPA), a bill that would protect our right to opt out of facial recognition at TSA and require it to dispose of data already collected through this program. But the TSA and powerful players in the travel industry are lobbying hard to defeat the bill.
Sign the petition to tell lawmakers to stand with passenger privacy, not dystopian surveillance and corporate profits! It’s critical that the TPPA is passed and enforced without delay.
In the current TSA program, the increasing use of biometric surveillance threatens the civil rights and data privacy of all flyers. Facial recognition technology in airports received pushback from U.S. senators after a study published by the federal National Institute of Standards and Technology in 2019 found that Asian and African American people were up to 100 times more likely to be misidentified than White men, depending on the particular algorithm and type of search. U.S. airports have long been sites of racial profiling, targeted surveillance, and discrimination by government agencies. Facial recognition technology expands these capabilities. We need to act now to stop the spread of this racist, discriminatory technology.
Facial recognition is not necessary to administer safe and efficient travel. We shouldn’t have to choose between our travel and our privacy.
Send a message to your lawmakers today to demand they support the Travel Privacy Protection Act. Help fight facial recognition in airports.
If your face has been scanned by TSA, check out the Algorithm Justice League’s #InPlaneSight campaign share your experience, and check out their newest report.