August 20, 2025
Security lines at the airport are going to start moving faster….but only for those of you with either TSA precheck or clear.
There are new two programs being tested right now at several US airports that you should know about. But both of them require you to give your biometric data – that’s a fancy way of saying you have to submit to a facial recognition scan.
Just yesterday the Transportation Security Administration and clear introduced a joint program called eGate. The program allows you bypass the TSA agent podium all together. If you’re enrolled in CLEAR-plus, you just scan your boarding pass when you enter the special CLEAR-plus lane, then you walk straight to the eGate, it takes a scan of your face and using instant biometric verification technology they match the image of your face with your ID and boarding pass and then you move on to the TSA screening where they physically check you and your bag. So basically you’re bypassing that long line where you have to give the TSA agent your ID and boarding pass. According to the announcement CLEAR says this is a public private partnership with the federal government and says TSA retains complete operational control so they can flag you and not allow you to use the eGate if there’s an issue.
So where can you find these new eGates? According to the TSA and clear – they’re testing the tech at three airports, Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta international airport in Atlanta, Ronald Reagan national airport in Washington DC and Seattle–Tacoma international airport in Seattle. If all goes well – clear says they plan to add eGates to all US airports.
The other program is another way for you to get around that TSA podium where the agent checks your ID and boarding pass. It’s called precheck touchless ID. It’s a separate lane from regular TSA pre check and again meant to speed up the security process. To access it you must have TSA precheck and you must also be flying with either American airlines, Delta airlines, United airlines or Alaska airlines and you must have your valid passport uploaded into your airline profile.
Once you enter the TSA touchless id lane you go up to a camera and again it scans your face and matches it to your identifying information already submitted – no need to hand over your physical ID or boarding pass and you get waved through to the physical TSA screening area. Right now this precheck touchless ID program is being tested in 15 specific airports. Here is a list of those participating airports along with the airlines that are participating at each.
It’s important to know the facial recognition technology the TSA is using for precheck touchless id is coming from US Customs and Border Protection. If you choose to participate in this program TSA will collect and save that photo of your face, the biometric data, your passport number and all the other information it collects so the government can study the effectiveness of this program. The fine print says TSA may share this information with other government agencies including customs and border protection, homeland security and the federal government’s technology experts. They say they will delete this information within 180 days of collection.
Read more from CLEAR about eGates here.
See how eGates work from CLEAR here.
Read more from TSA about CLEAR’s eGates here.
Read more about TSA PreCheck Touchless ID here.
The fine print about TSA PreCheck Touchless ID here.
