this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2026
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Privacy
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Sadly if you want to travel these days face scans are unavoidable. I still avoid them for commercial services, but yeah. Fly to europe or any major US city and you are going to be made to submit to a face scan to get through security.
The last time I went through TSA (earlier this year), I no longer saw the signs saying you could opt-out, but I was still able to opt out.
The TSA agent got annoyed at me for not leading with that, though. Like... buddy... We exchanged greetings, and then I said no thank you to the face scan. It's not my fault that you jumped the gun. I'm trying to not be rude about another unnecessary invasion of privacy.
Some of them they don't even ask anymore. When you enter the US at certain ports of entry now they scan everyone as you walk up and they won't even ask to see your passport because they know who you are and will just wave you through. Because that's not fucking creepy at all.
I just say "no facial" which usually gets a smirk.
Yes, but at the very LEAST, it's being done by a government controlled entity that's subject to data security auditing and some sort of regulated process for handling that data.
These social media services are going to hold on to those scans, sell them for advertising data, and store them on dubiously secured servers.
Sadly, that government body pays private companies (palantier, cough cough) on the back end. They combine the data with a gazillion other datasets paid for by taxpayers. Since this is what they call "model training" you can't unring that bell from that point on. Immutable data on an evil corporation's dataset, for as long as data can be stored.
Oh for sure I just wouldn't want anyone having my face scan personally. I'd love to have a law passed that designated biometric data as personal property requiring a warrant or explicit consent to collect.
I would posit that the government is even worse for handling this data. See recent FBI hack and not as recent OPM hack.
For all its problems, a democratically elected government will always be better than some rich guy who wants to rip you off and make as much money as possible.
Tell me you're from the US without telling me you're from the US.
I... mentioned the US in my comment?
Yeah but do it again this time without telling me first.
My school was in lockdown again this week for a possible active shooter.
It's written basically as if the reader is also expected to be American.
Which annoyed me.
But I've had a rough week. Never mind me.
Well I can't speak to what its like in places I've never been.
Tell me you can't speak to places you have never been before without telling me.
Are Americans the only non-EU nationals that have to go through EES biometrics when traveling into EU/Schengen zone? I'm pretty sure that's not the case.
Now, I wouldn't be surprised if many Americans don't know we've been doing this to non-US nationals visiting the US for years via our US-VISIT program.
Americans are the only ones who fly to American cities without getting scanned... Because it's an internal flight.
I don't think there's a corner left in the industrialized world where you can go through passport control at the airport without getting your face scanned. At least as a foreigner.