A bipartisan group of senators have written to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell calling for restrictions on TSA’s use of facial recognition.

The Transportation Security Administration has been increasingly rolling out facial recognition to airports around the US. While travelers can opt-out, in favor of traditional screenings, some passengers are unaware of this and other choose facial recognition screening out of convenience or a lack of understanding of the privacy issues involved.

Senators are calling on Schumer and McConnell to take the lead in restricting TSA’s use of facial recognition “until rigorous congressional oversight occurs,” citing TSA’s plans to make facial recognition mandatory.

Congress must address this issue in the 2024 Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization. TSA announced in July that they plan to expand facial recognition surveillance from 25 to over 430 airports. While TSA states the program is optional, it is the stated intent of the TSA to expand this technology beyond the security checkpoint and require that passengers undergo facial recognition scans every time they travel. In 2018, TSA released their Biometrics Roadmap detailing their goal of a “biometrically-enabled curb-to-gate passenger experience.” In April 2023, TSA Administrator Pekoske admitted at the South by Southwest Conference that “we will get to the point where we will require biometrics across the board.”

As the senators point out, people becoming comfortable with facial recognition at airports is a slippery slope that could lead to mass surveillance across the board, with little to no objection from citizens:

The potential for misuse of this technology extends far beyond airport security checkpoints. Once Americans become accustomed to government facial recognition scans, it will be that much easier for the government to scan citizens’ faces everywhere, from entry into government buildings, to passive surveillance on public property like parks, schools, and sidewalks.

The senators go on to state that TSA’s plans are disingenuous since there is no evidence that facial recognition makes air travel safer:

Furthermore, this powerful surveillance technology as deployed by TSA does not make air travel safer. In response to congressional inquiries, TSA has not produced evidence that more false identification documents have been discovered since their implementation of facial recognition. The 3% error rate cited by TSA represents more than 68,000 mismatches daily if used on all 2.3 million daily travelers. Recent news reports that hundreds of passengers have bypassed TSA security checkpoints entirely in recent years suggests that TSA should focus on the fundamentals, not expanding its facial recognition program.

With the TSA’s announcement in July 2023 that they plan to expand facial recognition surveillance from 25 to over 430 airports, it is clear that we are at a critical juncture. The scope of the government’s use of facial recognition on Americans will expand exponentially under TSA’s plans, with little to no public discourse or congressional oversight.

Given the myriad of abuses TSA agents have been accused and/or found guilty of—everything from overly aggressive screenings and pat-downs to sexual assault—it’s little wonder that senators are concerns about the abuses that come result from the agency’s widespread and mandatory use of facial recognition.

The letter was signed by Senators Jeffrey A. Merkley, John Kennedy, Edward J. Markley, Roger Marshall, M.D., Kevin Cramer, Ron Wyden, Steve Daines, Elizabeth Warren, Mike Braun, Bernie Sanders, Cynthia Lummis, Chris Van Hollen, Peter Welch, Laphonza Butler.