What if all it took to get through TSA security was your fingerprint?

The TSA tests its new fingerprinting ID system.
(Image credit: Instagram/@TSA)

The TSA has begun testing the use of fingerprints as proof of identification and boarding pass at two airports, in Atlanta and Denver, Fast Company reports. The program, which is entirely voluntarily, allows TSA PreCheck members to use the lines of their finger pads to coast through security at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Denver International Airport.

"In the long term, this technology has the potential to eliminate the need for a boarding pass and ID altogether," the TSA writes. But during the opt-in testing period, the TSA will still need to subject willingly fingerprinted passengers to "the standard ticket document checking process of showing their boarding pass and identification document."

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.