Traveling is fun, but there is a downside if you travel by air. Airports are RARELY fun and the process of getting through security can be a lengthy one with a lot of hoops to jump through.
Orlando International Airport
Not only do you usually need to take your baggie of 3 oz. liquids out of your luggage, take your shoes off and take some of your electronics out of your bags, you also need to dig out your ID and boarding pass to show to a TSA agent even BEFORE you do all that. Of course, there are ways to skip some of that process, like TSA Precheck. However, some technology introduced last year could speed up the process even more.
According to The Business Insider, the TSA rolled out new facial recognition software last year at Baltimore-Washington International/Thurgood Marshall Airport. The technology allows passengers to insert their ID into a machine to be scanned. The machine snaps a photo of the passenger and matches it with the photo on the ID, while also checking to make sure they have a flight booked for that day.
©TSA
Basically, this would mean that passengers no longer have to hand their IDs and boarding passes to a TSA agent before going through security. Note that the photos are not stored, but for those who don’t want their photo taken, they can go through a standard ID check. Also, the camera only turns on when the ID is placed into the machine, so no photo is taken for those passengers who do opt-out.
Orlando International Airport
Since this technology’s introduction, it has expanded, though, and is now in use at other airports, according to LiveNowFox.com. This includes Reagan National near Washington, D.C., as well as airports in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Jose, Gulfport-Biloxi, Jackson in Mississippi, and Orlando.
Orlando International Airport
However, the technology is not at EVERY security checkpoint in these airports, so passengers may or may not come across it. So keep that in mind because you may still need to hand your credentials to a TSA agent instead.
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I guess I don’t understand what makes this faster. You still have to show an id, which you show a TSA agent. Is it that you also don’t show a boarding pass? Does that really take up a lot of extra time? Is someone would explain it here in the comments I would appreciate it.