TSA PreCheck Touchless ID identity verification can verify your identity so you can quickly enter the PreCheck line at TSA airport security checkpoints, reducing the hassle of waiting while your Real ID is scanned and verified, and your face is photographed.
TSA (Transportation Security Administration) PreCheck Touchless ID can help you quickly identify yourself at TSA security checkpoints at U.S. airports nationwide, but it’s not available at every U.S. airport. Moreover, there are potential privacy concerns with TSA PreCheck Touchless ID because it uses facial recognition to determine your identity.
What exactly is TSA PreCheck Touchless ID?
TSA PreCheck Touchless ID is an identity verification system used to speed air travelers’ identity confirmation as they enter TSA PreCheck lines at TSA airport security checkpoints. The Touchless ID identification screening process uses facial comparison technology for fast, efficient identity verification. Some airports have dedicated Touchless ID PreCheck lines to further speed the identification verification process. TSA PreCheck Touchless ID users don’t need to show their Real ID to enter the TSA airport security checkpoint. Your photo is taken at the checkpoint entrance, and in seconds, your identity is verified so you can enter. I use the system. It’s quick and easy. TSA PreCheck Touchless ID enrollment is free.
TSA PreCheck membership is mandatory.
You must be a TSA PreCheck member to enroll and use TSA PreCheck Touchless ID. If you’re not familiar with the program, it’s a U.S. government Trusted Traveler Program providing expedited security screening for what TSA defines as “low-risk travelers” located at more than 200 airports across the U.S. Members use PreCheck dedicated lines at TSA airport checkpoints where they don’t have to remove their belts and lightweight jackets, nor remove their laptops and other electronic gear from their carry-ons, or their 3–1–1 liquid’s baggie. Most of the time, PreCheck members don’t have to go through full-body scanners, but instead can quickly go through metal detectors.
First-time TSA PreCheck enrollment costs $76.75 for a five-year term.
Renewals are less expensive. You need to complete an extensive questionnaire and go to a TSA PreCheck enrollment center to complete the enrollment process. There are more than 1,300 enrollment centers in the U.S., including ones at many Staples, CVS Pharmacies and airports. While walk-ins are permitted, those with appointments are given priority.
To enroll, you’ll need an unexpired government-issued-Real ID-compliant Photo ID, with your current legal name. You’ll need proof of citizenship or a legal immigration document. Women who have changed their name following marriage who are using their state-issued birth certificate will need to bring their marriage certificate, too. Applicants with an unexpired U.S. passport book or card will need no other ID.
TSA PreCheck membership comes via other U.S. Trusted Traveler programs.
Global Entry, NEXUS and SENTRI Trusted Traveler programs come with TSA PreCheck membership for their members. I have TSA PreCheck from my Global Entry membership.
Each of the Trusted Traveler programs provide Known Traveler Numbers (KTN) that you need to provide the airlines to get PreCheck for your flights. The Known Traveler Number is the first piece of identification you’ll need to enroll in TSA PreCheck Touchless ID.
TSA PreCheck Touchless ID enrollment requires enrollees to have a valid, unexpired passport.
To enroll in TSA PreCheck Touchless ID, you must have a valid passport. Other Real ID-compliant IDs can’t be used to enroll in Touchless ID at this time. This is the second ID you’ll need to enroll in TSA PreCheck Touchless ID.
TSA PreCheck Touchless ID enrollment requires an active airline profile with a participating airline.
To use TSA PreCheck Touchless ID, air travelers must have an active airline profile with a participating airline in the TSA program. Currently, the airlines participating in the program include: Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Hawaii Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines. You can’t use Touchless ID while flying on another airline.
Enrollment in the TSA PreCheck Touchless ID program is completed on each participating airline’s website. To create an airline account profile at any of the participating airlines, you’ll need to enroll in their frequent flier programs. If you have privacy concerns about giving personal information, you can decide not to join their frequent flier programs. You won’t be able to enroll in or use TSA PreCheck Touchless ID.
Once you’re a member of the airline’s frequent-flier program, you can opt into the Touchless ID program. Log into the participating airline on which you intend to fly and go to your account page. Locate the TSA PreCheck Touchless ID section. Enter your Known Traveler Number. Then, enter your passport number and passport expiration date. At that point, you should be able to click on the save button that enrolls you into the program.
There are real benefits to enrolling in the TSA PreCheck Touchless ID program.
- Faster processing – The wait time when Touchless ID is used is reduced.
- Convenience – Most of the time you can keep your Real ID-compliant identification stowed, rather than fumbling for it as you enter the TSA airport security checkpoint area.
- Efficiency —Touchless ID verification is normally much faster than standard identification where your Real ID must be scanned and you must wait to have your photo taken before entering the airport security checkpoint.
There are potential concerns about enrolling in the TSA PreCheck Touchless ID program.
- Privacy concerns – The biometric and high-resolution imaging used in the TSA PreCheck Touchless ID program, if misused, could create serious privacy and identity-theft problems. TSA promises that photos are deleted within 24 hours of flight departure and are not used for surveillance or shared with any other entity.
- System problems – Depending on complex back-office networked databases and significant number-crunching, sometimes the TSA Pre-Check Touchless ID system stops working/communicating. In that case, you’ll need to pull out your Real ID-compliant identification. So don’t leave home without it and keep it on your person, just in case.
When you enroll in any of the Trusted Traveler programs, you provide the federal government with a significant amount of personal data and your photo.
By enrolling in TSA PreCheck Touchless ID you are not providing any additional information to the airline that they don’t collect for every traveler. In addition, your photo captured by the Touchless ID system is deleted within 24 hours of your flight’s departure. It is not shared with any government agencies or other companies.
How will you know you can use TSA PreCheck Touchless ID at the airport?
If enrolled in the Touchless ID program, your boarding pass after checking in for your flight will have the TSA Pre✓ Touchless ID symbol on its face.
Consider the convenience and efficiency of the Touchless ID program. I have used it successfully and I fully endorse it.
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After many years working in corporate America as a chemical engineer, executive and eventually CFO of a multinational manufacturer, Ned founded a tech consulting company and later restarted NSL Photography, his photography business. Before entering the corporate world, Ned worked as a Public Health Engineer for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. As a well known corporate, travel and wildlife photographer, Ned travels the world writing about travel and photography, as well as running photography workshops, seminars and photowalks. Visit Ned’s Photography Blog and Galleries.
