Senate Republicans are accusing the Transportation Security Administration of helping kill a bill that would limit face scanning technologies, Politico reported.
The bill, which has bipartisan support, would require TSA to clearly notify every passenger of their right to opt out of facial screenings at the airport and limit their ability to store biometric information of passengers scanned, Politico said.
The senators charge that TSA worked with the travel industry to lobby against the bill, causing it to be discarded at the last minute while it was under consideration in the Senate Commerce Committee, sources told Politico.
"The short answer is yes; the long answer is hell yes," Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., a sponsor of the bill said to the outlet about TSA's efforts to stymie the bill. "They're working like an ugly stripper to kill this bill, which tells me we're doing the right thing."
An aide to Senate Republicans told Politico that TSA's lobbying would work against the confirmation prospects of Ha Nguyen McNeill, who serves as acting head of the agency and recently was an executive at a company that supplies AI-powered facial recognition software to airports.
TSA's lobbying could also put it in the crosshairs of Kristi Noem, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, who is not opposed to the bill, a senior DHS official told Politico.
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., who has long opposed facial scanning at the airport, said TSA is acting like an authoritarian country surveilling its citizens.
"It's been used to intimidate, to track, and to intimidate freedom of expression and freedom of assembly," Merkley said to Politico.
Aside from TSA, the legislation has been opposed by associations representing airlines, airport employees, and other travel businesses that say it would increase wait times at airport security, Politico reported. Companies that supply the technology have also lobbied against the bill.
McNeill has argued that facial recognition technologies can help reduce budgets at federal agencies. The Trump administration has called for TSA's budget to be slashed by $247 million.
Sam Barron ✉
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