➡ The Rob Braxman Tech channel talks about his recent international travels, the author noticed the widespread use of facial recognition technology at airports in both the US and France. This technology replaced human interaction at security checkpoints, raising concerns about privacy and potential misuse of data. The author questions whether opting out of facial recognition is possible and expresses worry about the implications of this technology in a political climate where freedom of speech is under threat. Despite these concerns, the author acknowledges the ease of travel as an American citizen and the benefits of being one.

➡ The author expresses concern about the use of facial recognition technology at airports, particularly at the Tom Bradley International Terminal in LAX. They were unaware of the option to opt out of this technology, despite the TSA stating that it’s not mandatory. The author also noticed an abundance of cameras in the airport and is suspicious of the TSA’s claim that they’re only checking documents. They encourage others to share their experiences and to be aware of their rights regarding this technology.

➡ The use of facial recognition technology at airports has raised concerns about privacy and potential misuse for surveillance. Despite assurances from the TSA that they don’t store travelers’ photos and respect privacy, critics argue that this technology could lead to a surveillance state. Travelers can opt out of facial recognition, but there are fears that its use normalizes the idea of using our faces as IDs. The article ends by inviting readers to join a privacy-focused community and thanking supporters.

Have you traveled by plane recently, particularly internationally? I recently traveled to France and I was quite surprised at the changes I found, both in the US and in France. What’s new is the introduction of facial recognition as the primary way security is handled now at both these countries, which I experienced at Los Angeles International Airport and Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. Remember, these are two different countries, and yet the standard way of handling airport traffic was disconcerting. It was almost as if the countries coordinated. The glaring observation I made was that when entering France and when returning to the United States, I spoke to no human being other than following walking directions and being directed to a camera machine.

No one interviewed me at either entry port, though there was a person mechanically stamping the passport in France, but not saying a word. What does this all mean? What are these machines? What do they do? How is it that these governments are so confident of their use of facial recognition technology that in the case of the United States, I didn’t even have to show my passport to anyone? All I had to do was have them take a picture of my face. Anyone interested in privacy ought to be concerned and wonder if you can opt out of having facial recognition used on you or if there are consequences to requesting that no facial recognition be done.

I did not see any signs anywhere that offered any opt out alternatives. Given the political climate in recent years in America where freedom of speech can no longer be assumed, one wonders if you will be stopped at some border and harassed and your phone and devices examined for content against the current regime. Now that I’m back in the US, I began researching all this so that next time I travel, I’m more aware of my options. Fortunately, I did not have any issues at all. It was smooth sailing even though being who I was, it was a concern to me if some three letter agency somewhere was rattled by what I say.

And by the way, the shocking thing was that I was recognized in Paris. So it wouldn’t have surprised me if some AI could do it as well. Let me share with you my experience and what I learned about the use of this new technology and also I will share some of my fears as this changes how we interact at borders. Stay right there. I’m grateful to be an American. First of all, what I will talk about is my experience as an American citizen traveling with a United States passport. This is something underappreciated by many young people who protest the American flag and so on.

I have to say that I appreciate completely the benefits of being an American. When arriving at the customs and immigration area in France, for example, it was notable to see a very long line of people waiting to be processed for entry. And I’m guessing that most of those people were coming from African countries based on the makeup of the population in line. And I went through what I expected to be a long line, but it turned out to be practically no line. There was no way at all to enter France. And as I said, no French official said a word to me other than to point me to a camera machine.

I felt the unfairness of it all and how the world worked. But I was thankful personally, of course, that it was easy, though my concern was more because of the nature of my YouTube channel. In the U.S., the citizen area was completely segregated from the non-citizen area. So I couldn’t tell you what the experience is like for non-citizens. I imagine with current immigration strictness in America that would make any visitor tense. Unfortunately, the U.S. is the most difficult country to travel into, and it is easy to forget this when you’re a citizen. Our rights as citizens and the potential of abuse.

I personally am very thankful to be a U.S. citizen. But as a citizen, I’m also concerned about the rights and freedoms I’m entitled to under our Constitution. I’m concerned about issues like the First Amendment, which guarantees me freedom of speech, and the Fourth Amendment, which serves to prevent abusive search and seizures. Both these amendments feature big in privacy. With privacy, we enable ourselves to exercise free speech without someone watching over our shoulder. This is no longer a given when various technologies ensure that someone is always watching over your shoulder. I talked specifically about the new intent to do client-side scanning on our devices and how this can be used to know specifically what we’re all thinking based on what we do on our phones and computers.

Then there’s the wide use of geofencing, which now tests the limits of the Fourth Amendment, because now we can be implicated in government drag nets searching for potential crime when there is no warrant or cause, just because we happen to be in some particular area. New fencing is the technology used to find people in a specific area at a specific period of time based on phone data. Something that’s routinely done now because of your phone data. Supplied to the problem of facial recognition, one wonders then what the intent is when cameras are being used at airports to be the primary way of screening people exiting and entering a country.

Is this another abuse of our privacy in the making? Are our photos being stored in some database? Are AI bots running in the background, scanning our information and social media to red flag us in some way? So in this light, I’m going to see what the TSA says about this technology, match it to my experience, and speculate on various other technologies in the works that they’re not revealing to us. USA Credential Authentication Technology, CAT According to the TSA website, the equipment I encountered at the airport is called Credential Authentication Technology, or CAT, and specifically this version of the technology currently in use is referred to as CAT2.

The way I experienced it is that I was told to scan my passport on the device, then I was to look straight at the camera, I saw on the screen that it marked my face with a border on screen, which is obviously AI based, and then there was a flash. And there was a pause as if it was processing something. The first time I used it, the machine seemed to have a longer delay than a neighboring machine, so it got me concerned that some additional scanning was being performed. But eventually it completed. I can’t remember now, but maybe it was a green arrow indicating it was successful.

Based on what I read on the TSA website, what supposedly was happening was that the machine simply compares the photo that was digitally stored based on the chip on the passport, and it compares that against the actual photo taken to ensure there’s a match. So if I understand that right, the passport photo on the passport is not actually used, but some digital representation of it is downloaded from somewhere, either from a government website or embedded directly in the passport. I’m not sure. And that is compared to the photo just taken. Then the two are matched.

Again, according to the TSA, this photo is only used to authenticate the document and that the TSA itself doesn’t have access to external databases, which may show additional information about the individual. Supposedly, it is simply to make sure that the document is authentic. From my past understanding, both your USA passport card and the passport itself has an embedded RFID. So I can imagine that that would store the passport number and that could enable it to download the image that matches the passport from elsewhere. I can’t imagine an RFID holding actual image data. Then from here, once you’re validated, you’re good to go.

Your entry is authenticated. One of the things stated on the TSA website is that the image of you is not stored permanently but is deleted shortly after. But somehow I don’t buy this. Let me fast forward to the return trip. On my reentry into the US through immigration, I was holding the passport in my hand. But at no time did I have to show it to anyone or to scan it. Yet when I got to the final point, I had official recognition photo taken again and the confirmation was practically immediate. Not like the delay on the first time doing this when I departed.

Didn’t they say they delete the photo? Well, I think it was within 24 hours. I came back a week later and no passport was required. Common sense, my photo or facial recognition data was stored or they’d have to repeat the process of CAT, authenticate the document against my face. That didn’t happen on the way back. It was purely facial recognition used for IDing me and the officer nearby said aloud that the passport was not necessary. Now, admittedly, the passport has an RFID so it could have scanned the RFID on the way in so that the machine was prepped for it but it does raise the question.

Folks, if you traveled internationally recently, please compare my experience with yours and let’s see if there’s any pattern here. I’m suspicious here that they are not telling us the whole story. Again, to repeat, they claim that CAT2 is a document authentication machine, not a facial recognition device matched to a database. That is clearly either not the case here or they store the image at least long enough to catch you on the return flight. So, this sounds fishy to me. We’re being led like a flock of sheep here and we just follow. USA is there an opt-out? Let me tell you something else that was very strange.

In all the documents from the TSA, they state that facial recognition is not mandatory. You can choose to opt out. I will emphatically state this to you. I was not aware of any sign anywhere that stated that I had an option to opt out of facial recognition. And since this was my first encounter of this, I didn’t want to stand out and cause a fuss. But clearly, they didn’t want to even suggest that there was an opt-out. On the website, they state that when you choose to opt out, there’s no penalty of any sort and you do not lose your place in line.

Supposedly, the only difference is that a human will review your document and then you proceed in as normal. I didn’t get a chance to opt out. I didn’t get to read of this in advance and this is obviously a newly implemented technology. From reading articles on the internet, I see the earliest signs of this being used was in May 2025, so within the last four months or so. So, I didn’t know the consequences of opting out. Now, I’m able to inform you that you can opt out and you can read the rules and they clearly state that they will not penalize you for opting out or subject you to any extra delay and not even losing your place in line.

So, don’t be afraid. Folks, if your experience is different than mine or if my memory is faulty, I would like other people to verify the experience. This again is at LAX at the Tom Bradley International Terminal. Let me know if your experience is similar, same or different in the comments. If you opted out, please also tell us in the comments to see if you feel like you encountered extra trouble either in departing or returning from your trip. Watch lists It is also stated in the TSA website that once you insert your passport into the machine, that other things happen, that you are verified to actually have a flight and that they check some flight databases.

And they do admit too that the passport is passed through some federal watch list database. The implication is that the other controls to identify or classify the passenger is happening in the background and not under the control of the TSA person running the CAT machine. So, if I’m to guess, if there’s some issue, the machine will give an alarm and then I presume you’re escorted elsewhere to deal with law enforcement. Again, as a tech guy, that’s my guess. But the TSA makes it sound like they’re just doing a document check. This, of course, is more sophisticated at many levels.

As an expert on surveillance, I would imagine that the machines would be under the control of some AI that is providing other intelligence data to classify the traveler and despite the TSA assurance, it sounds to me like it is capable of doing a full evaluation of every person going through that machine. So, this is no simple document check. While this may be obvious to all of us, a population used to surveillance, I’m suspicious of the wordplay, like, hey, we’re not invading your privacy. Don’t worry about it. Right. Cameras I already told you this and this is based on prior knowledge, but the passport and passport card have an embedded RFID.

So, your identity can be known without displaying your passport. So, in addition to this, my eyes are aware of cameras at all times. Aside from the usual overhead surveillance cameras found in most airports, at the Tom Bradley International Terminal, the exit escalator was chock full of cameras. On a single escalator, there were three cameras and these were at eye level, not up in the ceiling. And they were equally divided over the length of the escalator. And this was the single way down, at least for ambulatory people. So, in theory, there would be no escape. You would be facially recognized even before you enter the customs immigration area.

What I’m saying is that in addition to the final exit cat 2 camera, there were multiple cameras along the way. And I’m sure the purpose of that would not be stated. These cameras were not hidden, by the way. They were at face level on the left side of the escalator. So, it would be obvious if you faced away from them since the wall to the right was empty. I’m expecting surveillance, so this doesn’t surprise me, of course, but the nice talk on the TSA website is inconsistent with the reality. Of course, as an American citizen, I didn’t get stopped or get delayed in any ways.

So, I appreciate that. But I also recognize that this equipment could escalate the way we’re treated with little forewarning. I have to add too that the boarding pass is also now your face. So, no need to show boarding pass, the AI’s got you, and yet you’re told that they’re not storing your photo. Come on. Something is not adding up. Phone device screening The most worrisome aspects of this technology and other things related to this is an increased level of surveillance that have been experienced by others who have been denied access to the USA even after being granted a visa.

There’s that story of a German scientist coming in for a science conference and was apparently denied entry in the US after supposedly having his phone examined and anti-Trump comments were found on his text messages. Later, the US immigration claimed that the reason for denial was based on social media posts, which again is a concern. Good thing they don’t apply these rules to citizens or at least not that I’m aware of. Being aware of such events and also phones and computers being examined at different countries, I did not bring a regular computer. Instead, I had a basic factory reset computer with just basic functionality and no real content on it.

My phone was my Brax III phone, which normally doesn’t have much content on it either. It’s troublesome that I would even have that fear that someone would be looking at my possessions or digital data in light of the protections of the Fourth Amendment. But in this current world, I’m always prepared because I frankly have a lot of distrust. It doesn’t seem to matter who is in power, as government officials know to use the capability that’s made available to them. As I always say, when the technology allows any kind of evil to be done, evil will be done.

EU facial recognition. Now, going through the EU side via France, the experience was almost identical to the US version. I had to feed my passport through some reader and then a camera above it took my photo and then when it was okay, a mechanical gate opened. The same kind they use in the Paris Metro to accept your Metro ticket. Like cattle. I had to admit it was efficient and stressless because there was no human interjecting other than to point you to the empty camera machine. Now, here it looked like the normal document verification done by facial recognition.

I presume, though, that the French government does not have direct access to the photo database of the USA, so I imagine they just compared the physical passport photo to your facial recognition photo. I heard from some EU folks who stated that in the EU, facial recognition is also optional. Once again, I don’t know what the game is being played because there was definitely no sign that indicated there was an option. From the nylon lines that led you to the camera machines, all I saw was pictures of the flags that applied to the countries allowed in each line.

Then at the end of the line, it opened directly to the five or six camera machines. So EU people, check your laws if you opt out what happens. Have you tried opting out? One of the things that happened here when they implement facial recognition in this overt manner is that it desensitizes the population. It gets us used to providing biometrics just like our phones spy on us and we have accepted it as normal. Then facial recognition is all of a sudden the new thing that we must accept as normal. And just to make sure we accept it, they make sure to not indicate that you have a choice.

Put a little bit of fear in you to ensure compliance. So now expect this to expand, facial recognition to enter a building, facial recognition to log into social media. It is already such a concern to me that some parts of Los Angeles already has heavy facial recognition of drivers in cars. Remember the city folks, Culver City, California, the surveillance capital in Los Angeles County. You’ll get tickets with facial recognition. As we have found in this use at the airport, there’s always mission creep. Sure, we’ll just use this for credential authentication. It would not be used for police surveillance.

Yeah, right. By the way, in 2023, senators John Kennedy, Republican from Louisiana and Jeff Merkley, Democrat from Oregon, introduced a bill which apparently went nowhere to ban facial recognition at airports. Senator Merkley said this about the bill. The TSA program is a precursor to a full-blown national surveillance state. Nothing can be more damaging to our national values of privacy and freedom. No government should be trusted with this power. TSA responds that it doesn’t save or store traveler’s photos after a positive idea is made. TSA policy requires that security officers show each traveler respect and ensure their privacy is protected.

That’s what the agency says on websites. Travelers who do not wish to participate in the facial comparison technology process may decline the optional photo without recourse in favor of an alternative identity verification process, which does not use facial comparison technology to verify their identity. This action will not take longer, and travelers will not lose their place in line for security screening. TSA is committed to protecting traveler privacy, civil rights, civil liberties and ensuring the public’s trust as it seeks to improve the traveler experience through the exploration of identity verification technologies.

And know what I said about my suspicions, that in spite of what the TSA claims on their website, that your photos are in fact being stored. As a closing note, the Electronic Privacy Information Center wrote that facial recognition is an invasive and dangerous surveillance technology. There is a reason facial recognition has become ubiquitous in less democratic countries. Facial recognition is an ideal tool for oppression by an authoritarian or would-be authoritarian government. TSA’s use of facial recognition normalizes the use of our face as our ID, and the dangerous implications are far too great to ignore.

The TSA should immediately halt its implementation of facial recognition. I’m sure someday they will up the ante with the Dubai method. Apparently there they do a retinal scan, or the China method with fingerprints combined with a WeChat app. Sometimes I cannot personally do anything about these invasions to privacy. The only thing possible for me is to speak out, and enough of you have to care for things to change. Folks, thank you for watching my videos. As many of you know, this channel does not have sponsors, and we primarily sustain ourselves by just creating products and services that we use to defend our privacy posture.

I’d like to invite you to visit our community site Braxme, which has a growing community of privacy enthusiasts. There are people from various walks of life and beliefs, and they converge together in the mutual support of privacy issues. We have a store there with products ranging from the Brax Virtual Phone Service, Braxmail, BitesVPN, and other services. All these are tools used by the privacy aware, and you can even talk to the actual users of the products directly. Join us, we’d love to have you there, and you don’t even have to identify yourself to be part of the community.

The very successful Brax 3 phone is also available for pre-order on the second batch. The first batch has been sold out. Information about that is on BraxTech.net. Thanks also to those who donate to us on Patreon, locals, and YouTube memberships. You are all appreciated. See you next time. Thank you. [tr:trw].

See more of Rob Braxman Tech on their Public Channel and the MPN Rob Braxman Tech channel.