You might remember me blogging
about a new piece of technology last year called the CAT/BPSS. Its real name is “Credential Authentication
Technology/Boarding Pass Scanning System.” That can be a mouthful, so I simply
call it the travel document scanner.
We just started
testing the technology at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) and
will also test at Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and Luis
Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU) in the coming weeks. Each airport will
receive 6 units total.
This technology
will scan a passenger’s boarding pass and photo ID, and automatically verify
the names provided on both documents and then match and authenticate the
boarding pass. The technology also identifies altered or fraudulent
photo IDs by analyzing and comparing security features embedded in the IDs.
What should passengers
expect? Passengers will hand their ID to the TSA Travel Document Checker (TDC)
who will scan it while the passenger scans their own boarding pass using a
built in scanner that's part of the technology. Once the scan is complete, the
technology automatically and permanently deletes the information from the
system. Here's a link to the Privacy Impact Assessment for the technology.
If testing is
successful, TSA could deploy the technology to airports nationwide. Our
officers at airports that are not part of the operational testing will continue
to verify travel documents with the aid of lights and loupes, as one of many
layers of security.
If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA.
