Traveler Privacy Protection Act of 2025

Enhanced Privacy Protections: The Administrator is generally prohibited from capturing, collecting, or storing biometric information through facial recognition technology, except under specific circumstances (Section 2(a)(2)(A)).

Right to Opt-Out Without Penalty: For those in Trusted Traveler Programs, the bill ensures passengers can opt-out of facial recognition without being subjected to discriminatory treatment, additional screening, or less favorable conditions (Section 2(a)(2)(C)(ii) and (v)).

Right to Opt-In for General Passengers: Passengers not in a Trusted Traveler Program can choose to opt-in to using the technology, but they must provide affirmative express consent first (Section 2(a)(2)(D)(i) and (iv)).

Protection Against Passive Surveillance: The law explicitly prohibits using facial recognition to track or identify passengers outside of the screening location or to enable wide-scale monitoring (Section 2(a)(2)(6)).

Data Minimization and Security: The bill limits the storage of biometric information to what is necessary for identity verification or a short window after flight departure, preventing long-term data retention (Section 2(a)(3)(B)(ii)).

Transparency and Oversight: The GAO is required to conduct annual studies on the effectiveness of the technology, including research on bias related to race, age, and sex, and provide recommendations to protect civil liberties (Section 2(a)(7)(A)).

Requirement for Additional Identification: If a passenger does not provide an acceptable form of identification at a security checkpoint, they may be subject to alternative identity verification measures (Section 2(a)(2)(F)).

Notice Requirements: While intended for transparency, the bill requires constant notifications through signage and spoken announcements to inform passengers of their opt-in or opt-out options (Section 2(a)(2)(C)(iii) and (D)(ii)).