TSA Upgrades: What It Means for Your Next Airport Visit

CHEEKTOWAGA, NY — The summer travel season is officially underway and with more and more people taking to the skies, TSA is preparing to welcome many passengers across the country.

Here in Buffalo, the TSA has installed the latest version of its Credential Authentication Technology (CAT) system, to verify a traveler’s identity.

Like the ones they had before, it scans your photo ID to confirm your identity and flight details. But the new ones also have a camera to capture a real-time photo of the traveler, comparing it to that on the submitted ID, to prevent document fraud at the security checkpoint.

It’s the same technology used to unlock your phone using facial recognition.

Once the CAT-2 confirms the connection, the traveler can pass through the checkpoint, without ever exchanging a boarding pass.

“If you are not comfortable having your photo taken, that’s okay, tell the agent you want to unsubscribe and the agent will then validate you as was done before the installing the camera.” says TSA’s Lisa Farbstein. She also wanted to point out: “…keep in mind that the photo is not kept. The photo is deleted, we no longer need it.”

The only thing the system is not designed to do is speed up the passing process, which can be considered unfortunate. Last week, the TSA set an all-time record for the number of passengers screened in one day. That record is expected to be broken soon, as travel is expected to reach unprecedented heights at this and other airports this summer.