TSA Expanding Facial Recognition to 65 Airports

Your face becomes your boarding pass at 50 more airports this spring. You can still opt out. For now.

TL;DR:

  • TSA PreCheck Touchless ID is expanding from 15 to 65 airports by spring 2026, a 433% increase
  • Facial recognition replaces your ID and boarding pass: one face scan, you're through
  • You can opt out: tell the TSA agent you want standard ID verification
  • TSA Administrator said the quiet part out loud: "Eventually we will require biometrics across the board"
  • Congress never authorized this: TSA operates under broad interpretations of existing security powers

50 More Airports, Same Privacy Problems

TSA announced on January 14 that it's adding 50 airports to its PreCheck Touchless ID program by spring 2026. The system uses facial recognition to verify your identity: no ID card, no boarding pass, just your face held up against government databases.

Currently available at 15 airports including Atlanta, JFK, LAX, and O'Hare, the expansion hits Houston Bush Intercontinental, Washington Dulles, Miami, Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and dozens more by spring.

TSA calls it a convenience feature. Civil liberties groups call it something else.

How It Works

Walk up to the PreCheck lane. Look at a camera. A facial recognition system compares your face against your passport photo stored in government databases. If the algorithm says it's you, you're through in under 10 seconds.

Requirements to participate:

  • TSA PreCheck membership
  • Valid U.S. passport
  • Profile with a participating airline (United, Delta, American, Alaska, Southwest)
  • Opt-in through your airline's app or website

TSA claims images are deleted within 24 hours of your scheduled departure. They claim photos aren't used for law enforcement or surveillance. They claim opting out won't cause problems.

Let's examine those claims.

What TSA Isn't Telling You

Congress Never Authorized This

There's no law specifically authorizing TSA to use facial recognition on domestic travelers. TSA operates under broad interpretations of DHS security authorities. EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Center) notes that "Congress has not passed any law specifically authorizing TSA's use of facial recognition on the general public."

Translation: TSA built a biometric surveillance system first, then figured out the legal justification later.

The Mandatory Future Is Coming

TSA Administrator David Pekoske stated publicly: "Eventually we will get to the point we will require biometrics across the board."

That's not speculation. That's the plan, from the person in charge. The ACLU warned this is exactly what happens with surveillance technology: "While the TSA promises its vision will be based on 'opt-in' principles, it's not hard to imagine that the ability to opt out will be either retracted by the TSA (as we have seen with body scans) or rendered so inconvenient as to be reduced to a protest for the stubborn."

The Technology Is Biased

A 2019 National Institute of Standards and Technology study tested 18 million photos across 8 million people. The findings:

  • Asian and African-American people were up to 100 times more likely to be misidentified than white men
  • Native Americans had the highest false-positive rate of all ethnicities
  • Women were more likely to be misidentified than men
  • The elderly and children had higher error rates

TSA is deploying this technology at massive scale despite documented accuracy disparities.

No Informed Consent

The Government Accountability Office criticized TSA for its "lack of informed consent": travelers weren't adequately told what was happening to their biometric data. Now TSA is expanding 433% before addressing those concerns.

Privacy Groups Sound the Alarm

A coalition including EPIC, ACLU, EFF, and CDT put their support behind the Traveler Privacy Protection Act (S. 1691), which would:

  • Codify your right to opt out of facial recognition
  • Prevent TSA from ever mandating biometrics
  • Protect travelers who opt out from adverse treatment
  • Prohibit TSA from expanding facial recognition beyond identity verification

The bill hasn't passed. Meanwhile, TSA keeps building.

The ACLU's assessment: "Unlike other forms of identity verification, facial recognition technology can enable undetectable, persistent government surveillance on a massive scale. The government can use it to grab unprecedented power to track individuals' movements and associations, posing grave risks to privacy."

Airports Getting Touchless ID in 2026

Priority airports (first half of 2026):

  • Houston Bush Intercontinental (IAH)
  • Washington Dulles (IAD)
  • Boston (BOS)
  • Miami (MIA)
  • Fort Lauderdale (FLL)
  • Orlando (MCO)
  • Dallas Love Field (DAL)
  • Kansas City (MCI)
  • Houston Hobby (HOU)
  • Orange County, CA (SNA)
  • San Jose (SJC)
  • Sacramento (SMF)
  • Palm Beach (PBI)
  • Long Beach (LGB)
  • Anchorage (ANC)
  • Baltimore (BWI)

Additional airports (full list includes):

Albuquerque, Austin, Birmingham, Boise, Buffalo, Charleston, Chicago Midway, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Hartford Bradley, Honolulu, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Milwaukee, Nashville, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Palm Springs, Pittsburgh, Providence, Raleigh-Durham, San Antonio, San Diego, San Juan, St. Louis, Tampa, Tulsa, and Westchester County.

How to Opt Out

Here's what TSA says: Face scanning is optional. You can decline and receive standard ID verification. You won't lose your place in line.

Here's how to do it:

  1. Tell the TSA agent: "I don't want my photo taken. I want to opt out."
  2. The agent should manually check your ID against your boarding pass
  3. You continue through security normally

Document any problems. If an agent pressures you or claims you can't opt out, that's a violation of TSA policy. File a complaint at tsa.gov/contact-center/form/complaints.

The Bigger Picture

TSA is one piece of a growing biometric infrastructure:

  • CBP uses facial recognition for international arrivals (mandatory for non-citizens) and has signed deals to scan against billions of faces
  • ICE uses Mobile Fortify for enforcement encounters nationwide
  • Airlines are building their own biometric systems
  • Airports are installing face recognition at gates, lounges, and entrances

Each system trains you to accept the next one. Each "optional" program becomes less optional over time. Each database gets shared with other agencies under vague "security" justifications.

The ACLU called TSA's approach "an enormous further investment in a misguided approach to airline security that paves the way for future expansions in the collection and use of personal data on passengers (including insidious new forms of threat scores, security rankings, blacklists, whitelists, etc.) all without necessarily improving security."

What You Can Do

  • Always opt out. Every time. Make them process you manually. Create friction in the system.
  • Support the Traveler Privacy Protection Act. Contact your senators and ask them to co-sponsor S. 1691.
  • Document problems. If TSA agents pressure you or claim opt-out isn't available, file formal complaints.
  • Stay informed. This program is expanding fast. Know which airports have it before you travel.

The window to push back is now, while opting out is still an option.

Sources

Published: January 22, 2026