New US Biometric Rules Let Officials Request DNA at Airports
Do you put up with TSA because they keep you safe when you get on an airplane? Well, forget that. There is no public evidence that TSA has caught any person actually carrying out or imminently attempting an Islamist terrorist attack at an airport checkpoint in the last five years, and experts generally note that TSA’s screening programs have not credibly documented a single terrorist caught at the checkpoint in their entire history. Now the door opens for the TSA to collect your DNA. ⁃ Patrick Wood, Editor.
New customs rules rolled out December 26 expand biometric collection for travellers entering or leaving the United States. The changes authorize officials to gather more biometric data from non-citizens, and they take effect immediately.
Government documents indicate that facial recognition photos will now be taken at airports to match travelers against records, and those images can be retained for up to 75 years. Previously applied limits on who could be scanned are being removed, so more people are now in scope.
Officials may also request additional biometric markers such as fingerprints or DNA from certain non-citizen travelers. The stated purpose is to deter frivolous claims and to create consistent procedures across agencies.
Under the new approach, age exemptions that once protected children and the elderly have been narrowed or eliminated. Travelers under 14 and those over 79 were earlier exempt in many cases, but the updated rules broaden the biometric net.
Biometric collection has existed for years, but these rules increase the types of information officials can lawfully request and hold. That change shifts the balance between routine data capture and more intrusive collection like DNA sampling.
Some visitors planning to stay in the United States longer than 29 days now face a $30 biometric processing fee. The rules also establish penalties: refusing fingerprinting or other biometric steps could expose a traveler to fines up to $5,000.
The timing of the rollout collided with a peak travel period: one major carrier flagged December 27 as an expected record day for winter travel. That timing prompted warnings about longer security lines and more intensive screening at checkpoints.
“You will probably be waiting an extra-long time in the security line this Christmas,” Air passenger rights expert Ivaylo Danailov, CEO of SkyRefund, warned. He pointed out that the holiday season brings more people and more luggage, both of which slow processing.
Danailov also advised travelers to “check the TSA’s website” before flying, because advance preparation reduces surprises at the checkpoint. He added a practical note about wrapped gifts: “It doesn’t matter what you have wrapped, or how nicely, the TSA will unwrap anything to get a good look at it and are not always gentle in the process.”
Border and immigration agencies frame the changes as tools to strengthen security and streamline adjudication of claims, while privacy advocates raise concerns about data retention and scope. Storing facial images for decades and expanding collection to DNA or fingerprints raises questions about oversight, access, and long-term use.
For travelers, the immediate effects will be operational: potentially longer waits, new fees for certain visitors, and a broader set of biometric checks at ports of entry and departure. The legal framework now gives officials clearer authority to seek more detailed biometric data from non-citizens.