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Ever Boarded a Plane Without Showing Your ID?

It’s here, thanks to biometrics!

Sandy Maximus
The Shortform
1 min readJan 11, 2025

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A picture of the different lanes in a security checkpoint at an airport
The security checkpoint at LaGuardia Airport (Author, SM 2025) author own image.

I boarded a plane without showing any proof of identification— neither at the security screening nor at the gate before boarding.

The security lanes (picture above):

1️⃣General — show photo ID, remove shoes and electronics.

2️⃣ TSA PreCheck — show photo ID; no need to remove shoes or electronics.

3️⃣ Clear with TSA PreCheck — A paid membership service that costs $77.95 with a yearly Clear Membership ($199).

4️⃣ Digital ID — Face recognition technology that allows the passenger to go through security without showing a physical driver's license or passport.

For $100 and donating my biometrics, I have a five-year Global Entry permit that includes Precheck.

Why? To avoid the long immigration lines during re-entry to the US!

Digital ID is a recent addition in only select airports.

How do you feel about technology taking over a human’s role in conducting an identification check at airports?

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The Shortform
The Shortform

Published in The Shortform

Shortform is dedicated to quick, interesting reads. If you are looking for some tiny nuggets of knowledge, easy entertainment, maybe a laugh or two😂. Shortform is designed for consuming content when short on time, energy, or waiting for a bus that’s always infuriatingly late.

Sandy Maximus
Sandy Maximus

Written by Sandy Maximus

An academic, a mother, and a wanna-be writer with interests from travel to tennis, personal stories, and life lessons.

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