Tag: tsa

TSA Proposes MyTSA PreCheck Digital ID, Integrating Biometrics and Federal Databases

The Transportation Security Administration is reshaping how it verifies the identities of US air travelers, proposing a major update that merges biometric data, mobile credentials, and government authentication platforms into one expanded framework.

Published in the Federal Register, the notice outlines a new form of digital identification, the MyTSA PreCheck ID, which would extend the agency’s existing PreCheck program into a mobile environment requiring more detailed data from participants.

Under the plan, travelers who want to activate the new digital ID on their phones would have to provide additional biographic and biometric details such as fingerprints and facial imagery, along with the information already collected for PreCheck enrollment.

The proposal appears alongside TSA’s recently finalized ConfirmID program, a separate fee-based service designed for passengers who arrive at checkpoints without a REAL ID or another approved credential.

Keep reading

Kentucky Launches Mobile ID App Amid Broader Push for Digital Identity and Age Verification Law

Kentucky has introduced a new Mobile ID app that allows residents to carry a state-issued digital ID on their smartphones.

The credential can currently be used at TSA checkpoints in select airports and is described as a voluntary digital version of a driver’s license or state ID for limited verification purposes.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, which is overseeing the rollout, says the program is part of the state’s adoption of mobile driver’s license technology.

The digital ID is stored securely on the user’s phone and relies on encrypted Bluetooth connections for verification, removing the need to hand over a physical card.

At this stage, the credential is accepted only for TSA identity checks. The state has not indicated when or if it will expand to other uses such as traffic stops, public service access, or age-restricted purchases.

Kentucky officials have also stated that the app is not meant to serve as a full digital wallet but as a narrowly defined identification tool.

Governor Andy Beshear described the Mobile ID as “a secure and convenient option” for residents who wish to use it.

Transportation Cabinet Secretary Jim Gray noted that the digital version “reduces exposure of personal information” compared with showing a physical license.

The state has published detailed guidance explaining how to enroll, verify, and use the credential during airport screenings.

Kentucky’s Mobile ID app is not an isolated gadget for airport lines. It fits into a broader state effort to rethink how identity and age are confirmed in both physical and online settings.

This comes at a time when Kentucky lawmakers are actively expanding legal frameworks around age verification and digital identity across multiple fronts.

The Mobile ID lets residents carry a secure digital version of their driver’s license or state ID on a smartphone, currently usable at TSA checkpoints in participating airports.

The app’s design stores credentials locally on the device and uses encrypted Bluetooth to transmit only the necessary details for a verification task.

At the same time that the state is embracing mobile identity technology, lawmakers have enacted age verification legislation that applies to online activity.

Under House Bill 278, websites hosting adult content must verify that users are at least 18 years old before allowing access, which in practice has led some major adult sites to block access for Kentucky users rather than collect ID data online.

This law took effect in mid-2024 and reflects a legislative move to enforce age checks on digital platforms.

Kentucky’s digital identity initiative and its age verification law point toward a future where proving age and identity electronically may become more common in many contexts.

Keep reading

TSA Agent Observed Somalis Carrying Millions of Dollars in Suitcases Heading Overseas

A former TSA Agent claims that Somalis transported millions in cash through airports during her time as an agent.  She saw the money herself.  She also notes that there are paper trails and videos of this trafficking.

This might account for where the estimated $9 billion stolen in Minnesota’s sprawling social-services scam, orchestrated mainly by members of its Somali community, went.  This $9 billion is nearly equivalent to the entire economy of Somalia.

The amount stolen accounts for roughly half of the $18 billion in total federal funds provided to the Minnesota-run services since 2018, as Democratic Gov. Tim Walz continues to take heat for his handling of the debacle.

By comparison to the $9 billion figure, Somalia’s entire GDP was under $12 billion in 2024, according to the World Bank.

In an interview with Liz Collin at Alpha News, a former TSA Agent says that, in hindsight, the suitcases filled with millions of dollars in cash seem like an obvious connection to the estimated billions of dollars in fraud.

While traveling with large amounts of money is not illegal, as long as it’s documented, she also explains how much money she saw, how law enforcement officers were contacted, and how little was done about it.

Keep reading

Transportation Secretary’s Daughter Calls for Complete Eradication of TSA After Nightmare Airport Experience

The daughter of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy exploded at the Transportation Security Administration Thursday after an interaction she said almost caused her to miss a flight.

“I nearly missed my flight this morning after the TSA made me wait 15 minutes for a pat-down because I’m pregnant and didn’t feel like getting radiation exposure from their body scanner,” Evita Duffy-Alfonso posted on X.

“The agents were passive-aggressive, rude, and tried to pressure me and another pregnant woman into just walking through the scanner because it’s ‘safe,’” she posted.

“After finally getting the absurdly invasive pat-down, I barely made my flight. All this for an unconstitutional agency that isn’t even good at its job,” she posted.

“Perhaps things would have gone more smoothly if I’d handed over my biometric data to a random private company (CLEAR). Then I could enjoy the special privilege of waiting in a shorter line to be treated like a terrorist in my own country. Is this freedom?” she wrote.

She summarized her experience as “ Travel, brought to you by George Orwell — and the privilege of convenience based solely on your willingness to surrender biometric data and submit to radiation exposure?”

“The ‘golden age of transportation’ cannot begin until the TSA is gone,” she wrote.

That post followed a briefer eruption.

Keep reading

Former TSA Agent Says $1 Billion in Cash Was Flown Out of Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport by Somali Men!

Liz Collin, an investigative journalist from Minnesota who was threatened by Antifa at her home and was fired from her TV job for her reporting during the Derek Chauvin scandal in 2020, is now independent on Youtube.

Collin has posted an interview with Liz Jackson, who worked for the TSA from 2016 – 2021, and witnessed “suitcases filled with millions of dollars of cash. And the couriers were always Somali men traveling in pairs and they got through the checkpoint.” She said that law enforcement would check their identification, so a trail of the exportation of the money should exist. She said that the transport scheme occurred about once per week and estimated that $1 billion was shipped out of the US. She believes it was delivered to the Somali terror group al-Shabaab.

Liz Collin breaks down her investigation into Somali fraud rings that are linked to Democrat politicians like Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Governor Tim Walz, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. The social service scams under investigation include the ‘Feeding Our Future’ program that claimed to provide meals using COVID funds, the dramatic increase in autism funding in the Somali community and the alleged Medicaid fraud in a Housing Stabilization program for the disabled.

Keep reading

Male ‘Trans’ TSA Agent Wants to Pat Down Women So Bad He’s Filing a Lawsuit Over it

A self-proclaimed transgender employee of the Transportation Security Administration filed a lawsuit over his inability to perform pat-downs under the Trump administration.

Danielle Mittereder, a man claiming to be a woman, is challenging the Department of Homeland Security over its new policy ensuring that TSA agents can only screen members of their actual sex.

The lawsuit filed earlier this month asserted that the policy violates federal civil rights law.

Mittereder started working for the TSA in June 2024 and is currently stationed at Dulles International Airport in Virginia.

Because President Donald Trump signed an executive order against recognizing transgenderism in the federal workforce on his first day back in office, Mittereder now finds himself unable to pat down women.

Keep reading

TSA Announces $45 Fee for Passengers With No REAL ID, Passports, or Other Accepted Documents

Passengers who lack a REAL ID, passport, or another equivalent document will have to pay a $45 fee to travel domestically, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced on Dec. 1.

The agency will start charging air travelers $45 on Feb. 1 if their IDs do not meet the new, stricter federal standards.

Travelers without a REAL ID will have to use the TSA Confirm.ID for 10 days, which will cost $45, according to the agency. It advised people to schedule an appointment at a local Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) location to update their IDs as soon as possible before traveling by plane.

“All travelers without an acceptable ID, including those who present a non-REAL ID-compliant state driver’s license or ID, will be referred to the optional TSA Confirm.ID process for identity verification upon TSA check-in and prior to entering the security line,” the TSA stated.

“This process will differ airport to airport, and TSA is working with private industry to proactively offer online payment options prior to arrival at the airport.”

Passengers without REAL ID or another accepted form will face longer wait times at airports, the TSA warned.

Keep reading

Noem Awards TSA Staff $10,000 Bonuses for Working During Shutdown

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem handed out $10,000 bonus checks on Nov. 13 to thousands of frontline Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers who stayed on the job during the federal government shutdown.

About 47,000 agents who worked through the 43-day shutdown despite not getting paychecks will be awarded a bonus along with back pay, according to Noem.

“We are going to not only continue their paychecks like they should have received all along, but also they’re going to get a bonus check for stepping up, taking on extra shifts, for showing up each and every day, for serving the American people,” Noem said at a news conference at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.

The officers were thanked for taking seriously every day the mission of the Department of Homeland Security, “and that’s keeping the American people safe while they go and commute across the country, and while they do their work and business and take care of their families,” Noem added.

A couple of the officers were singled out for their “exemplary” service and for taking on more hours and shifts during the shutdown.

“They were examples to the rest of the individuals that worked with them, and endured those hardships and continued to shine a light on what is special about America,” Noem said.

Keep reading

Apple Launches TSA-ready Digital ID for Domestic Travel

Apple has launched Digital ID for the iPhone and Apple Watch. Drawing information from a user’s passport, the new feature is marketed as an “easy, secure, and private” way to verify identity during domestic travel, with additional use cases promised soon. With iPhones holding about 58 percent of the U.S. smartphone market, the update reaches a user base large enough to alter everyday identification practices.

Digital IDs sit at the center of a broader global system built through what officials refer to as “public-private partnerships.” These alliances shape policies, set technical standards, and define the rules of planet-wide “digital governance.”

Within that structure, Apple’s new update fits seamlessly. While offered to the public as a convenience feature, it will move society closer to a model in which identity, access, and compliance operate through a single device that people already carry without much thought.

Rollout

The company made its announcement on Wednesday:

Apple today announced the launch of Digital ID, a new way for users to create an ID in Apple Wallet using information from their U.S. passport, and present it with the security and privacy of iPhone or Apple Watch. At launch, Digital ID acceptance will roll out first in beta at TSA checkpoints at more than 250 airports in the U.S. for in-person identity verification during domestic travel, with additional Digital ID acceptance use cases to come in the future.

Apple stresses that Digital ID “is not a replacement for a physical passport” and will not work for international travel (at least not yet). The company also frames the feature as a help for people who lack a REAL ID-compliant document. That pitch reads two ways at once. It gives travelers a practical workaround, but also nudges the public toward a digital identity system that aligns with federal priorities.

Jennifer Bailey, vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet, described the rollout as a natural step. “We’re excited to expand the ways users can store and present their identity,” she said. She noted that users “love having their ID right on their devices,” adding that the new feature brings that option to “even more users across the country.”

The message is simple. Your phone can now be your identification. And it can now place you inside a much larger shift in how identity works.

Keep reading

Nancy Mace outraged by whistleblower report that she is targeted by TSA, airport officials

Rep. Nancy Mace is railing against the Transportation Security Administration after being told she has been almost constantly surveilled by the agency.

She said current and former airport employees told her about the TSA surveillance, and she called on more whistleblowers to come forward.

“This appears to be yet another example of the weaponization of government agencies against a conservative,” the South Carolina Republican said in a statement. “If these allegations are true, it represents a disturbing abuse of power and a clear case of political retaliation. No American — let alone a sitting Member of Congress — should be subjected to this kind of targeted harassment.”

She said she was subjected to surveillance every time she was at the Charleston airport, with TSA officials allegedly trying to block her from using the crew-only entrance. She claimed using the entrance is “standard operating procedure for all members of Congress.”

The Washington Times reached out to the TSA for comment.

Ms. Mace reportedly rebuked police and TSA agents at a security checkpoint last month at Charleston International Airport.

She took to social media, saying, “If this turns out to be the weaponization of government officials and law enforcement agents against a sitting member of Congress — HEADS NEED TO ROLL!!!”

Ms. Mace has been accused of outbursts, including swearing at a constituent and police officers. She said the stories were fabricated.

In the case of airport surveillance, Ms. Mace urged current or former TSA employees, airport security personnel, airport employees and others to come forward with information. She said she will refer information to federal and state oversight committees and inspectors general for investigation.

Ms. Mace is running for South Carolina governor in a crowded 2026 primary. Republicans who have announced bids include Attorney General Alan Wilson, state Sen. Josh Kimbrell of Spartanburg County, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman.

“When I’m Governor, the era of good old boy politics will be over,” Ms. Mace said on social media. “The POWERFUL will become the POWERLESS, and power will return to the people where it belongs. Corruption will not be tolerated, and those who abuse their positions will be FIRED or worse yet — PROSECUTED!”

Keep reading