American Airlines using Face Recognition at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
American Airlines is using face recognition technology to board international flights of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). A fascinating and intriguing biometric technology — facial recognition is used to verify the people’s identity in mere seconds. Now, passengers do not need to wait for their turn to step onto the plane and without scanning a boarding pass at the gate, they can enter into the plane with seamless face verification.
For now, this technology is used in Terminal D of the airport and is expected to expand to 75 gates of DFW terminals by the end of the year. Face recognition technology is opt-in only and passengers need to show their ID cards at checkpoints.
According to American Airlines, passenger’s biometric information is not stored on their servers. Nevertheless, the biometric authentication process matches the facial features of onboarding customers against the Customer and Border Patrol (CBP) database. According to VP Cedric Rockmore, American’s DFW Hub Operations,
“As the largest hub, implementing new technology like biometric boarding gives us the opportunity to enhance the airport experience in partnership with CBP. This new technology allows us to provide a more seamless and modern experience for both our customers and team members.”
Facial verification has become a trend in the aviation industry. Despite the privacy concerns, airlines in the US and globally are opting for its adoption. Earlier this year, American Airlines first launched this technology as a trial period at LAX airport. The airline said that it will
“continue evaluating the program and its potential expansion to more locations and flights throughout its global network.”
Also to trial this technology at Los Angeles hub, it was tested at British Airlines, Lufthansa and Norwegian Air. This revolution is expected to hit the market if the trial at Dallas airport gets successful. The technology is also used at electronic passport gates introduced in many countries. According to the UK government, “the gates provide a faster route through the border as they allow eligible passengers to be processed quickly and securely.”
Emerging Era of Biometrics
Biometric technology is considered a highly secure and robust process in customer identification. At the government level, its adoption is undeniable. It serves the purpose of accurate authentication of onboarding entities while providing better user experience. A study shows that 90 % of businesses will be using some type of biometric authentication methods by the end of 2020. Around 60% of companies are already taking advantage of it.
Among all biometrics, face recognition technology is leveraging at a higher pace. Face scanning is versatile and its potential applications are reflected at an industrial level. According to a report by ‘Reports and Data’ it is estimated that;
Face recognition Market is going to reach USD 11.30 Billion by 2026.
The application of facial recognition technology offers high-level security and holds the largest share of about 37.4% in 2018. The government sector acknowledges its diversity and is making considerable investments to protect citizens from criminal threats.
Privacy Concerns of Facial Recognition
The rapid widespread use of biometric authentication has caused privacy concerns related to the biometric information of passengers. Even though the adoption of this technology is well-intended in the private and public sectors, the risks associated with it are alarming. Some campaigners suggest that the use of biometric technology should be paused for a moment and one should list the intentions behind using it. The biometric verification intake unique biological traits of human beings against which identity is verified. This information includes fingerprint scanning, iris scanning, face verification codes that need to protected from cyberattacks and data breaches.
The customer information is an asset for any organization that opts to take advantage of it. Highly sensitive information should be protected by dynamic measures to avoid the venture of identity theft.
In the Washington Post last year, national security counsel for US Electronic Privacy Information Center, Jeramie D. Scott said,
“There is very little federal law that provides any type of protections or limitations with respect to the use of biometrics in general and the use of facial recognition in particular.” Additionally, he said, “We need to take a step back because there will be consequences that we might not think about unless we sit down and have a meaningful discussion.”
