By Rick Steelhammer, The Logan Banner
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — With the help of facial recognition technology, the process of clearing the security checkpoints at West Virginia International Yeager Airport and Huntington’s Tri-State Airport has become quicker and more precise. The face screening and other instant identification technology is being implemented by the Transportation Security Administration.
The newest generation of Credential Authentication Technology is now in use at the state’s two largest airports and is expected to be installed next year at Beckley’s Raleigh County Memorial Airport and at the North Central West Virginia Airport at Bridgeport/Clarksburg.
The new camera-equipped CAT-2 units produce real-time photos of the faces of passengers entering security checkpoints, which are automatically compared with photos on travelers’ driver’s licenses or passport photos.
The CAT-2 units contain a “library” of 2,500 different types of TSA-accepted IDs programmed into them for use in authentication.
By using ultraviolet light to highlight official watermarks while precisely measuring the lettering, photo size and other components of driver’s licenses and passports, “this technology enhances detection capabilities for identifying fraudulent documents at the security checkpoint,” said John C. Allen, the TSA’s security director for West Virginia.
