Delta Airlines to implement facial recognition at Atlanta International Airport

Delta Airlines is all set to implement facial recognition systems at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport late this year. This move is immensely beneficial in order to address security concerns and would also have the added advantage of saving time during security check-in. The travelers who don’t want their faces to be scanned have an option to opt out of it, but this option is only available to United States citizens. The biometric information collected through facial recognition will be stored for 2 weeks. However, the exit records will be stored for 15 years for citizens and green card holders and 75 years for tourists.

This move has attracted mixed responses from various agencies, legislators and citizens, some of whom expressed privacy concerns. The implementation by Delta Airlines is only a part of the wider plan to spread the net of facial recognition systems at US airports. It is already present at 14 airports throughout the United States and comprises of the biometric measures to screen illegal immigrants. Immigration is handled by the United States Department of Homeland Security, which plans to implement facial recognition systems at land borders.

These systems caught a traveler with a fake passport at Washington Dulles airport last month. With all the debate about illegal immigrants in the US, it would seem as though this system is here stay, and expand.