Identification

[Neto]

If they supplied your name, if it was someone else attempting to get on the airplane, wouldn't they just do the same as you did (nod yes)? But someone attempting to board illegally would have needed to sneak through TSA, or be an airport worker, perhaps even a food service employee.

Regarding the 'speed of service' element, we always use printed boarding passes, & I've noticed that checking in at the gate is faster with paper than from a cellular telephone. (They almost always have to wave their phone around a bit before it picks it up. But maybe if they'd just hold still it world work faster. Too much impatience.)

Speaking of facial recognition, Americans react strongly any time a 'federal ID' program is suggested. I would think that facial ID is a great deal more 'invasive'. (Brazil has a federal ID mandate, and your fingerprints are collected when you get one. So they theoretically have the fingerprints of everyone who is in the country - except for people who are there illegally, or who are native peoples who have no documents at all. I say 'theoretically' because as far as I know, they do not have them digitalized. But maybe they've done that by now. It would be a massive job.)

[Robert]

Grok:

The TSA primarily uses Credential Authentication Technology (CAT) systems—especially the newer CAT-2 units—at airport checkpoints to verify IDs.When a TSA officer scans your physical ID (driver's license, passport, etc.):The scanner reads the ID's data (name, date of birth, expiration, etc.) and pulls the photo embedded in the ID.
A camera on the CAT device takes a real-time photo of you standing there.
The system performs a 1:1 facial comparison — it automatically matches your live photo against the photo from your ID.
If the match is successful (and other checks like validity pass), the screen typically shows a green checkmark, "match," or similar approval indicator, along with your pre-screening status (e.g., TSA PreCheck eligibility).
A TSA officer then gives a final visual confirmation.

The screen does not usually display a side-by-side photo comparison for the officer in the newest automated CAT-2 setups (the facial recognition algorithm handles the match first). Older or basic scanners might briefly show the ID photo for manual comparison.Key points from official TSA info:The live photo you just had taken is deleted immediately after the comparison (no storage in a database for regular use).
It's a verification tool to confirm the person matches the ID, detect fraud, and streamline screening.

This is the current standard at most U.S. airports rolling out CAT-2 (many have it as of 2025–2026). If you're using a digital ID (e.g., mobile driver's license in Apple Wallet), the process is similar but pulls the photo/data from the digital credential instead. Opting out of facial comparison is usually possible by telling the officer.

[R7ehr]

I’m talking about at the gate, not the TSA security checkpoint. The gate is operated by the airline, not TSA, and even if it was TSA, they say that they immediately delete the picture taken at security.
I’m way past security, in fact I’m at a different airport completely than the one that I went through security at. I went through the TSA security in Oregon, and flew to California to change planes. I was in California boarding my flight to Asia, when I went to the boarding gate, and they just snapped a picture of me, asking if my name was ——. I nodded and boarded the plane.

[JoyE]

My face and palm print have been on record for many years due to prison visits.

But I expect the facial recognition when flying was inevitable. However, my cousin with thirteen siblings tells me that online, her sisters and she are often mistaken for each other on facial recognition. But maybe that's poorer quality software than what the government uses. Oh, and come to think of it, their voices sound very similar, too.

[Thomas_muntzer]

This was new for me. I was boarding an airplane. And I didn’t have to show any identification or boarding pass, or anything like that. I got to the gate, and they had me stand in front of a camera like the ones that TSA uses. I stood there, the gate agent told me my name, I nodded confirmation, and I boarded the aircraft.

We are being tracked all the time in the airport and other public buildings and now with the advanced AI systems is much easier identify someone palantir is doing their job