The TSA's initial rollout covered 16 airports of various sizes across the country, including Baltimore; Boston; Dallas; Detroit; Orlando, Florida; Phoenix; Salt Lake City; San Jose, California; and Gulfport-Biloxi in Mississippi. States with busy international airports have continued to add the technology as the TSA's pilot expands.

While the system aims to speed up the security line and limit physical contact with TSA screeners, passenger reaction is mixed. Some travelers flying through Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas in February 2020 appreciated the convenience, but others were concerned about privacy and the use of their facial images.

Airports using the technology in Texas include:

William P. Hobby Airport
(Airport code: HOU; located in Houston)

Valley (Harlingen) International Airport
(Airport code: HRL; located in Harlingen)

Sugar Land Regional Airport
(Airport code: SGR; located in Sugar Land)

South Texas (Edinburg) International Airport
(Airport code: EBG; located in El Bagre)

San Antonio International Airport
(Airport code: SAT; located in San Antonio)

Midland International Airport
(Airport code: MAF; located in Midland)

Mid Valley (Weslaco) Airport
(Airport code: TXW; located in Weslaco)

McKinney National Airport / Collin County Regional Airport
(Airport code: TKI; located in Tokeen)

McAllen Miller International Airport
(Airport code: MFE; located in Mission)

Maverick County Memorial (Eagle Pass) International Airport
(Airport code: EGP; located in Eagle Pass)

Laredo International Airport
(Airport code: LRD; located in Laredo)

George Bush Intercontinental Airport
(Airport code: IAH; located in Houston)

Fort Worth Meacham International Airport
(Airport code: FTW; located in Dallas/Ft.Worth)

Fort Worth Alliance Airport
(Airport code: AFW; located in Dallas/Ft.Worth)

El Paso International Airport
(Airport code: ELP; located in El Paso)

Del Rio International Airport
(Airport code: DRT; located in Del Rio)

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
(Airport code: DFW; located in Dallas/Ft.Worth)

Dallas Love Field Airport
(Airport code: DAL; located in Dallas/Ft.Worth)

Corpus Christi International Airport
(Airport code: CRP; located in Corpus Christi)

Conroe-North Houston Regional Airport / Lone Star Executive Airport
(Airport code: CXO; located in Conroe)

Brownsville South Padre Island International Airport
(Airport code: BRO; located in Brownsville)

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport
(Airport code: AUS; located in Austin)

Addison Airport
(Airport code: ADS; located in Dallas/Ft. Worth)

Privacy issues are a concern for many when it comes to facial recognition technology, particularly if passengers' biometrics are used for profiling or surveillance without their knowledge.

Passengers may opt out of the system and go through a manual screening. However, they may encounter some hassles, as Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley did when he declined to use the screening technology at Reagan National in 2023. Agents warned that a manual process would cause delays (it didn't), but those warnings could coerce others into using the system. The TSA says it does not store the images it takes nor use the technology to profile or conduct passenger surveillance. Still, CBS News has reported that some information is saved for up to two years to help evaluate the technology.

Critics of facial recognition biometrics also cite racial bias. Research has shown that facial recognition algorithms are prone to error when trying to identify Black people—especially women with darker skin, who were 34% more likely to be inaccurately identified than men with lighter skin, according to Harvard University.

The TSA boasts a 99% success rate with its facial biometrics system and says the false negative rate is 3% or less. Still, 2.9 million passengers flying in the U.S. daily could cause headaches for tens of thousands of travelers upon full implementation.

Meanwhile, as the TSA continues to test, evaluate, and implement facial recognition technology, it also plans to test iris scanning as a means of identity verification.

This story features data reporting by Elena Cox, writing by Jill Jaracz, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 47 states.