TSA ADVANCES ON MODERNIZATION ACT GOALS, INCLUDING BIOMETRICS
November 13, 2019
One year ago this month, Congress enacted and President Trump signed into law the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018. This major legislation incorporated a previously stand-alone bill, the TSA Modernization Act, which comprehensively reauthorized the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for the first time since that agency’s inception following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The TSA Modernization Act included a number of one-year deadlines, and the agency’s Acting Director reported on progress toward these goals during a House Transportation & Maritime Security Subcommittee hearing on October 29, 2019.
Notably, TSA is finalizing process improvements for international aviation security directives, periodic recertification of checkpoint equipment, insider threats and public area security plans, 100% TSA Pre-Check screening lanes, as well as public awareness campaigns surrounding the approaching October 1, 2020, deadline for 100% REAL ID compliance for passengers passing through checkpoints. Publication of these initiatives is expected from the coming weeks into early 2020.
Additionally, TSA this month provided a report to Congress regarding deployment of biometric technologies by itself and by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). This report detailed CBP’s Traveler Verification Service (TVS), a facial image matching service drawing on U.S. Department of Homeland Security data sources. TSA and CBP envision a near future in which integrated biometrics technologies greatly streamline identity verification and screening processes for air travelers. For its part, CBP intends to implement biometric exit at the nation’s top 20 airports by the year 2022, which would capture 97% of departing commercial air travelers.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6622); Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6665), or Alexander Matthews (amatthews@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6633).
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