If you travel in and out of Bush or Hobby airports, you have likely had your face scanned by a Homeland Security program that has been tested for nearly three years now.
On the one hand, you might think that a facial recognition program is good for our security. On the other hand, there seems to be some real issues with the program in place.
Congress approved the program a few years ago, and it's been tested ever since. But Harrison Rudolph, who led a study on this for Georgetown Law School's Center on Privacy and Technology, tells KTRH the system is flawed.
“DHS doesn’t seem to know if its airport face scans will be effective when it encounters a traveler using someone else’s identity. This is like a bar hiring a billion dollar bouncer without knowing if the bouncer can spot a fake ID,” Rudolph explained.
And of course there are the privacy concerns.
“It may not achieve its main objective. It may suffer from bias, and it’s a real threat to privacy,” Rudolph stated.
Homeland Security hasn't said much publicly about the face scan program, but it has admitted that the program 'erroneously rejects' 1 out of every 25 travelers using valid credentials.