Yes, Americans Can Opt Out of Facial Recognition at Airports: Here’s How

US airports are deploying facial recognition technology to scan travelers’ faces before they board flights. Americans, at least, can opt out.

According to the website of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the federal agency responsible for border security, facial recognition technology has already been deployed at more than 230 U.S. airports.

On one hand, the government argues that facial recognition reduces the number of paper tickets and can be more efficient for travelers. But facial recognition remains imperfect and controversial. Technical problems and reliability issues plagued the initial rollout of facial recognition at airports, and independent tests have questioned the effectiveness of facial recognition algorithms, which performed worse on the faces of non-white people.

There are also privacy and legal concerns. After all, it is not CBP that directly collects facial recognition data, but the airlines themselves.

Delta began scanning the faces of departing passengers in 2018. JetBlue and others soon followed suit. While airlines collect facial scans to verify passengers boarding flights, the facial scans are provided to the government to check passengers on watchlists, such as visa overstayers.

The government can keep these photos for anywhere from a few hours to a few decades, depending on whether you’re a citizen or not. The data is also stored in several government databases that border agents can pull when you arrive or leave the United States.

However, if you are an American, you can easily opt out and you have the right to do so.

You may see signs at the airport telling you to turn off facial recognition. Keep in mind, however, that there may be no signs or they may be hidden.

Regardless, CBP’s website clearly states that U.S. citizens can opt out of these facial scan checks. “U.S. citizens who do not wish to undergo facial imaging in accordance with these procedures may request alternative processing, which generally involves a manual review of their travel documents by a (border agent).”

You may also have to wait several times at the airport until you are seated on the plane.

Only U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents (known as green card holders) can opt out of facial recognition on departing international flights. Anyone, regardless of citizenship, can opt out of facial recognition on domestic U.S. flights.

The opt-out works by notifying an official or airline employee at the time of the facial recognition scan. Border agents or airline staff will manually check your passport and boarding pass, in the same way they would have done before facial recognition went live.

If you are not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, you cannot opt ​​out of facial recognition. There are a few exceptions, such as Canadian citizens, who do not need a visa to enter the United States, and holders of foreign diplomatic visas. For Americans (and permanent residents), waiver is a right, even if it is not always clear or obvious from what you see at the airport.

As the digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation puts it: “It may sound cliché, but the key to opting out of facial recognition right now is to be vigilant.”

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First published: May 13, 2019, updated: July 29, 2024