How TSA Facial Recognition Actually Works—and What Travelers Should Know Facial recognition is helping travelers skip lines and move through airports faster. Here’s where it’s being used and what to know before you opt in. By Emily Cappiello Emily Cappiello Emily Cappiello is a travel, food, and beverage writer covering the intersection of delicious bites, sips, and travel adventures. Her work has appeared in Travel + Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, Departures, Vinepair, Martha Stewart Living, and more. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines Published on July 14, 2026 Leave a Comment Close A woman using facial recognition at the airport. Credit: FG Trade/Getty Images It seems like everything is always changing when it comes to airport security. Shoes off or on? Laptops out or in? Hands up or down? Even I, a frequent flier, find myself inquiring about the rules these days. And as a seasoned traveler, I’ve largely surrendered to the process. Between TSA PreCheck, Global Entry, and Clear—a private company that already has my fingerprints and retinal scans on file—I’ve not thought twice about having my photo taken at the airport. But as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) expands its facial comparison technology across airports nationwide, not every traveler is as comfortable handing over another piece of biometric data. According to the TSA, the technology enhances security while helping passengers move through checkpoints more efficiently. For some, that’s a welcome trade-off. For others, the idea of having their face scanned before boarding raises questions about privacy, consent, and exactly what happens to that information once it’s collected. IDEMIA, an authorized TSA service provider that developed the Credential Authentication Technology (CAT) system at airport checkpoints, also helped create the current facial recognition technology used today. This is designed to speed up wait times at airports while maintaining safety—an especially important