Dulles Airport Surprises Passengers with Facial-Recognition Boarding
<i>The scan takes fractions of a second and has shown to be 99 percent accurate during testing</i><p>Presumably it&#x27;s 99% effective at matching random faces to the photos -- if a terrorist group has a pool of 1000 stolen passports, with a system that&#x27;s only 99% effective at maching a random photo, I think they could do much better at finding a person (perhaps with some surgical alterations) that fits in that 1%.<p><i>The process eliminates the need for an airline employee to manually check every boarding pass and passport while boarding a plane.</i><p>So at least they are clear that this is a cost-saving method for airlines, it has nothing to do with speeding boarding or making boarding more secure.<p><i>This spring, Lufthansa announced that it boarded an A380 with over 350 passengers at LAX in less than 20 minutes—less than half of their normal time—using self-boarding gates linked to CBP’s facial-enabled traveler verification service,” McAleenan said. “No more fumbling with your boarding pass while you have two carry-ons, maybe a kid; no more trying to find your QR code or trying to refresh your screen.</i><p>Oh wait, I guess it is about speeding boarding... but is boarding pass scanning really what slows boarding? I always seem to get backed up in the line at the plane door, waiting for everyone to stow their carryons and sit down. Most busy flights have two agents scanning and most people who have flown more than once scan their pass&#x2F;phone quickly.... I&#x27;m surprised it&#x27;s any faster getting people to stand in the right spot and stand still for a photo.