Overview

• Touchless ID lanes are active at 15 major U.S. airports, including Chicago O’Hare, LAX, JFK and Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson, with 11 additional locations expected to launch soon.
• Travelers must opt in through their airline loyalty profile and hold TSA PreCheck status, a Known Traveler Number, an active airline account and a valid passport to see the Touchless ID symbol on boarding passes.
• Reporters and early users have encountered intermittent machine maintenance and missing boarding-pass indicators that have undercut the program’s promise of faster processing.
• The Senate Commerce Committee’s draft Travelers’ Privacy Protection Act would require opt-in facial scans, ban biometric uses beyond identity verification and mandate deletion of images within 24 hours.
• Privacy advocates cite a 2019 DHS subcontractor breach and algorithmic bias risks, while TSA and industry groups defend encrypted databases and warn that strict limits could stall screening modernization.