They want to scan so they can refuse flights to non-fascists.
It's as simple as that. They want to police your very existence.
this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2025
67 points (98.6% liked)
Asklemmy
49202 readers
114 users here now
A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions
Search asklemmy ๐
If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!
- Open-ended question
- Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
- Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
- Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
- An actual topic of discussion
Looking for support?
Looking for a community?
- Lemmyverse: community search
- sub.rehab: maps old subreddits to fediverse options, marks official as such
- [email protected]: a community for finding communities
~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_[email protected]~
founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
The problem with that is that you generally have to fly with an ID and a name; a name you need to provide when buying plane tickets.
I don't see how the face scan let's them do anything beyond what they already can.
Unrelated to the question but this makes me think the US is so cooked for not having trainlines. I haven't flown for years and glad I haven't
I take trains whenever I can, but that's difficult where I live โน๏ธ
No worries, it's understandable. And I don't blame people. Especially for not taking a train that does not exist
There's a dark pattern to it as well. I was under the impression that it was mandatory along with handing over my ID.
I always decline. I am an American citizen so there seems to be no immediate consequences to declining so far. For now.
Yes I do!
They are working towards requiring it for all travelers.
Why: Think of this as a trial working towards full automation. They aren't there yet and are not probably legally allowed to do so, but the idea is that you can be fully tracked like the British, Chinese, and other biometric adopted countries.
Prevention: Reliability and legality. As I mentioned I don't think they can force it in the US for travel yet as it's not legally allowed, nor is biometrics entirely reliable as is apparent when facial recognition fails.
Weird. I haven't flown recently. What happens if you get plastic surgery or into an accident or something?
For visa holders and green cards they have been doing that for a decade at least, I wonder if it is optional for them too.
Regarding opting out, we should. It is inconvenient, we get faces, but we should.
- The more scans they get of your face (age, expressions,...) , the more accurate their profile of you will be...
- To make an statement. If we just accept these things, they will keep pushing for more.
If we just accept these things, they will keep pushing for more.
They are going to do whatever they want to do. They've long passed the point of caring if they anger people.
What recourse do we have otherwise? Sure it's unlikely to change anything, but it doesn't cost anything either.
Luigiing the leader at the top. And also the entire remaining top.
At this point, that is the only answer. They won't stop until everyone is dead.
There is little point in refusing it. The biometrics are already in the database - the scan uses them to let you in without using your passport. Refusing to use the system will not take your data out of the database.
Domestic flights within the united states still require an id. They recently (in may iirc) require you use a "real id". I guess those are harder to conterfeit, but still they strengthened the traditional id requirement recently, so I expect that to remain the standard, at least for a while
the WHAT
It's a replacement for either your ticket or passport being scanned.
Replacement? They normally do both face scan and check some sort of ID.
Not anymore it seems.
I just flew today. They asked for both scan of my ID and pic
They looked at me like an idiot when I asked if they needed to scan my id, everyone just walked through with only the facial scan. This will probably vary by airport a lot.
Palantir, which the US gov is now (let's not kid ourselves, has been for some time illegally) contracting, probably already has your face either from street cams, security cams in various company buildings, or from social media at this point, so letting you 'opt out' is probably just theatre to avoid angering people at airports.
The terrorists won.
I just found out that you can opt out recently and decided to try next time I fly.
So just last week had a flight. In line at security I started to wonder what would happen if I tried to decline and was mad at myself for how nervous I got. Absurd.
But I asked the guy "do I have to [get my photo taken]?" and he told me to just pull my mask down and he looked at my id and then let me through to TSA. He was brusk but not too bad. I wonder what airline employees think about facial recognition and surveillance cuz it's so normal in that space. Anyway.
Overall glad I asked. Will be asking from here on out. I'm sure one day it will be mandatory.
You don't have to feel bad about being nervous. I did. It's not unlikely you'll be the only one in that line who decides to opt out. What happens if something goes wrong? Everyone else will be pissed at you. Turns out it's not a big deal. You just ask and there's one less thing they have to do.
Yeah I was thinking that had it been like. Cops or cop-coded individuals I would have been way more scared. But "Do I have to?" is going to be my like. Vomit response to my rights being squeezed on the daily.
And you're right it wasn't a big deal at all but it worried me in a new way which is always fun to notice