100,000 travelers' faces and licence plates leaked when a CBP subcontractor was hacked. The data ended up on the dark web. CBP had shared the biometric data with the subcontractor in violation of its own rules. Your face, collected at the border, stored by a company you never heard of, sold on the dark web. That is the trusted traveler program. TSA says airport facial recognition is optional. Try opting out. Senator Merkley tested it and got confusion and delays. The ACLU found no evidence the opt-out works consistently. When the person deciding whether to scan your face also decides whether you make your flight, "optional" is a fiction.
What they claim: CBP and TSA describe biometric data as securely stored with strict access controls
What we found: In 2019, CBP disclosed that a subcontractor (Perceptics) suffered a data breach exposing facial photographs and licence plate images of travelers. The breach affected approximately 100,000 people. CBP had shared the biometric data with the subcontractor in violation of its own policies. Perceptics data was later found on the dark web.
What they claim: TSA describes facial recognition at airports as optional, with travelers able to opt out
What we found: TSA has deployed facial recognition at 80+ airports, with plans for nationwide expansion. While technically opt-out, signage is minimal and TSA agents have been documented pressuring travelers to comply. Senator Jeff Merkley reported that in testing, opt-out requests were met with confusion and delays. The ACLU found no evidence the opt-out process is consistently honored.
What they claim: Trusted traveler biometric data collected for border security and aviation safety purposes
What we found: CBP has explored sharing biometric data collected through trusted traveler programs with ICE and FBI for immigration enforcement and criminal investigations. DHS privacy impact assessments revealed that facial recognition data collected at airports could be retained for up to 75 years and shared across 22 federal agencies.