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Bipartisan Senate bill would kill the TSA’s ‘Big Brother’ airport facial recognition
US Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and John Kennedy (R-LA) introduced a bipartisan bill Wednesday to end involuntary facial recognition screening at airports. The legislation would block the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) from continuing or expanding its facial recognition tech program.
Arizona is the first state to allow driver’s licenses in Apple Wallet
Arizona is the first state to let you hold your driver's license or state ID in Apple Wallet.
Apple delays release of digital ID cards to 2022
Apple has delayed the release of a feature that will eventually allow you to store your ID in the company’s Wallet app.
Apple says eight states have signed up to let people store IDs in Wallet
Arizona and Georgia are first up, with six more to follow.
The FBI says Russian ransomware group is behind meat supplier cyberattack
Operations are returning to full capacity at meat supplier JBS following a cyberattack that the FBI has attributed to the Russian group REvil.
DHS confirms new cybersecurity rules for pipeline companies
The measures follow a ransomware attack that halted Colonial Pipeline deliveries for several days.
DHS will issue mandatory cybersecurity rules for pipeline companies
Following the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack that led to fuel shortages in parts of the US, the federal government plans to impose mandatory cybersecurity regulation on the pipeline industry for the first time.
ACLU sues Homeland Security over airport facial recognition records
There's no question that AI surveillance is on the rise, but there are a lot of questions about just how extensively law enforcement agencies, like the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), are using it. In an attempt to increase transparency, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing DHS -- along with Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The ACLU is requesting records on the use of face surveillance at airports and borders, as well as the agencies' plans for future use.
TSA bans employees from making TikTok videos
The Transport Security Administration (TSA) is the latest US government organization to ban the use of TikTok. The decision comes after New York Senator Chuck Schumer sent a letter to TSA administrator David Pekoske, in which he flagged a number of security concerns about China-owned app.
After Christchurch, we need more than digital-security theater
Just after the Christchurch shooting I came across an article explaining how to make your Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts block violent videos. How-tos like this are depressingly necessary, because while Facebook removes an illustrated nipple for "community safety" at lightning speed with real consequences, the company isn't equally interested in policing content that's indisputably harmful. After the Christchurch attack, Facebook said it took down 1.5 million postings of the terrorist's mass-murder livestream within 24 hours, but only 1.2 million of those videos were blocked at upload.
TSA outlines its plans for facial recognition on domestic flights
The Transportation Security Administration is determined to make facial recognition and other biometrics a regular part of the airport experience, and it now has a roadmap for that expansion. The effort will start by teaming with Customs and Border Protection on biometric security for international travel, followed by putting the technology into use for TSA Precheck travelers to speed up their boarding process. After that, it would both devise an "opt-in" biometric system for ordinary domestic passengers and flesh out a deeper infrastructure.
TSA plans wider expansion for 3D luggage-scanning machines
The TSA had already planned to expand its pilot program using specially-designed CT scanners to screen airline passenger luggage from tests in Phoenix and Boston to major airports in Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington-Dulles. By the end of 2019, they envisioned spreading 145 of these machines in security checkpoints across the country. But it seems the tests have gone so well that the agency is increasing its order to 200 scanners in the next year, the TSA chief told Congress today.
TSA will install 40 luggage CT scanners in airports this year
The TSA has been using CT scanners to screen airline passengers' luggage since last year -- early tests of the technology have been taking place in Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport and Boston's Logan International Airport. But now, the agency has shared its plans for CT technology going forward, including expansions into additional airports. American Airlines announced earlier this month that a CT scanner was being set up in New York's JFK airport and the TSA says Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport and Washington-Dulles International Airport are among those that will have CT scanners in the near future.
New York's JFK airport will screen luggage with a CT scanner
Some passengers traveling through JFK airport will soon have the contents of their luggage examined through a CT scanner. American Airlines has donated eight of the machines to the TSA, one of which has been installed at JFK, and it's expected to be put into operation in JFK's Terminal 8 security checkpoint later this month. By opting for a CT scanner over the traditional x-ray machines, TSA agents would be able to see contents more clearly and be able to rotate images of passengers' luggage 360 degrees. "What it's capable of doing is detecting a wider range of explosives, which is very important, [as well as] a much lower weight of explosives," TSA Administrator David Pekoske told CBS News. "They're just much better at detection, so you really get better security faster, essentially."
TSA's thirst for Instagram fame pays off with three Webby awards
Who do you think would win Webby awards for its social media marketing prowess? A cutting-edge brand that resonates with the young crowd? A superstar who can break the Internet with one picture? Actually, it's... the TSA. Yes, the same agency that takes your water bottle at the airport (among other instances of security theater) just bagged three social content marketing Webby awards for its Instagram feed.
ACLU sues the TSA for domestic electronics screening details
When the TSA launched stricter screening procedures for domestic passengers' electronic devices last year, it didn't reveal the whys and hows. That didn't sit well with the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, which has now filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the organization in an effort to extract more info about its procedures and motivations.
TSA Precheck will let you into some NFL stadiums faster
TSA's Precheck clearance isn't just useful for getting around the security theater at airports. Idemia has started making deals with NFL teams to use Precheck as a "fast pass" for stadiums, starting with the San Francisco 49ers' Levi's Stadium and the New York Jets' MetLife Stadium. You can even enroll on the spot and use that pre-screening the next time you're flying. Levi's Stadium will also use Idemia's biometric scanning to "assist in fan experience and security" in the near future, although the company hasn't elaborated on what that means.
The future of surveillance is hidden in airport ads
Public anonymity is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Coming soon to an airport in Dubai is an artsy, colorful video security and customs tunnel that scans your face, adds you to a database, indexes you with artificial intelligence and decides if you're free to leave -- or not. By the end of summer 2018, Dubai International Airport's Terminal 3 will have replaced its security-clearance counter with a walkway tunnel filled with 80 face-scanning cameras disguised as a distracting immersive video.
TSA requires separate screening of devices larger than a phone
We've been hearing for months that the TSA might increase domestic airport security measures this summer (they've already done so for international flights coming into the US), and now those procedures are here. The TSA is requiring "travelers to place all electronics larger than a cell phone in bins for X-ray screening in standard lanes." This program has been tested at 10 domestic airports and is now being implemented across the country.
US lifts laptop ban from final Middle Eastern airline (updated)
If you're a business traveller who wants to use your laptop on a flight originating in the Middle East, things are looking up. The US started to lift restrictions for passengers carrying large electronics like laptops on flights originating in the Middle East earlier this month, including lifting the ban at Abu Dhabi airport, and exempting Emirates and Turkish Airlines from the ban. Now, according to a report by Reuters, the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has finally lifted the laptop ban on inbound passengers on Saudi Arabian Airlines, the final airline to be under restriction.
