Seattle airport to adopt facial-recognition technology

San Francisco, Nov 25 (IANS) The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) in the US state of Washington will introduce facial-recognition technology for international travellers by the year end, a Seattle-based newspaper has reported.

Travellers of the US Delta Air Lines, Sea-Tac’s second-largest carrier, will be able to board a plane by scanning their faces at the airport to speed up the boarding process, after their faces match with their visa or passport photos stored in the database of the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), The Seattle Times said.

The newspaper said Delta, which will become the first air carrier to adopt the new technology, is planning to use facial-recognition cameras to confirm international travellers’ identities at its Sea-Tac gates in late December 2019, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.

Delta has installed facial-recognition cameras in six airports in the country, and insisted that the new technology was aimed to deliver better customer service “by eliminating the need to juggle luggage, passports and boarding passes.”

The Seattle daily said a five-member commission will meet in mid-December to vote on principles concerning the use of facial recognition at Sea-Tac.