New machines at BWI Marshall Airport will move passengers through security more quickly, but not before taking photos of all the people who go through.
The devices are the latest version of what’s known as “credential authentication technology,” and they are now located at every security checkpoint at BWI.
“It is cutting-edge technology,” said Christopher Murgia, the Transportation Security Administration’s federal security director for Maryland.
The machines have cameras on them that snap a traveler’s photo in real-time.
Instead of a traveler handing their boarding pass and ID to a TSA security agent, they simply slide their ID into the machine, similar to a credit card being placed into an ATM.
It scans the ID, takes the person’s photo, makes sure the ID is real, and ensures that the photo matches the image that is on the ID.
“This machine really picks up and detects fraudulent IDs that the human eye would not be able to do,” Murgia said. “It positively identifies that the passenger providing us their ID is real and accurate.”
The technology exists in varying forms at airports nationwide, but BWI Marshall is the first airport in the country to be fully-equipped with these machines at every security checkpoint.
In addition to verifying the traveler’s identity, the devices show a security agent that the traveler has a flight and has permission to be on the plane.
In other words, when using the system, it is no longer necessary to hand a boarding pass and an ID to security. Murgia acknowledged, however, that some people will not be comfortable having their picture taken.
“That picture is a snapshot in time that just tells us who was in front of us,” Murgia said. “Rest assured that we do not save any of those images and we do not use them for anything else but to validate the person at that time.”
Travelers who do not want their photo taken can still go the traditional route of physically handing an agent their ID and boarding pass.
