You're probably wondering what exactly CAT/BPSS stands for, right? It's been making the news over the past week, but if you haven't read about the technology, it stands for Credential Authentication Technology/Boarding Pass Scanning System. I prefer to call it the ID Thingamabob.
Short Story: It detects fake documents and IDs.
Slightly Longer Story: This is a seriously cool piece of technology that enhances security and increases efficiency by automatically and concurrently comparing a passenger's ID and boarding pass to a set of security features. It verifies that neither have been falsified and that the information on both match. The system also verifies the IDs of airline personnel and can screen a wide range of travel documents.
Just last month, we purchased a total of 30 systems that will be deployed at select airports for further operational testing early next year. The airports included in our TSA Pre✓™ program (DFW, MIA, DTW, ATL) will be among some of the first recipients of the systems.
What should passengers expect once we begin to test these in airports? Passengers will hand their ID to the TSA Travel Document Checker (TDC) who will scan it while the passenger scans their own boarding pass using a built in scanner that's part of the technology. Once the scan is complete, the technology automatically and permanently deletes the information from the system. Here's a link to the Privacy Impact Assessment for the technology.
If testing proves successful, TSA could deploy the technology to airports nationwide. Our officers at airports that are not part of the operational testing will continue to verify travel documents with the aid of lights and loupes, as one of many layers of security.
Read more about IDs Here
Blogger Bob
TSA Blog Team
If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA.
TSA Blog Team
If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA.
