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The Comply To Fly? report by the Algorithmic Justice League
webajl.org·ajl.org/flyreport
Relevant to AI safety discussions around real-world deployment harms, algorithmic bias, and governance gaps in biometric surveillance; produced by AJL, a prominent algorithmic accountability organization co-founded by Joy Buolamwini.
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Summary
The Algorithmic Justice League's Fly Report tracks and documents instances of facial recognition technology being deployed in airports and aviation contexts, raising concerns about surveillance, bias, and civil liberties. It serves as a public accountability resource cataloging the expansion of biometric surveillance in transportation. The project highlights disproportionate impacts on marginalized communities from automated facial recognition systems.
Key Points
- •Documents deployment of facial recognition technology across airports and aviation settings as a public accountability tool
- •Highlights bias and accuracy disparities in facial recognition systems, particularly affecting people of color and marginalized groups
- •Raises civil liberties concerns about warrantless biometric data collection in public transportation spaces
- •Provides actionable information for travelers about opting out or challenging facial recognition use
- •Part of AJL's broader mission to audit and expose harms from algorithmic systems deployed at scale
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The Comply To Fly? report by the Algorithmic Justice League
The Fly Report From AJL Comply To Fly?
download Report SUBMIT TSA SCORECARD HOW AIRPORT TRAVELERS EXPERIENCE TSA’S FACIAL RECOGNITION EXPERIMENT
Authors: Joy Buolamwini, Sushma Raman, Andrea Dean
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Is a voluntary pilot becoming the default way to travel without consent or oversight?
The Comply To Fly? report by the Algorithmic Justice League focuses on the facial recognition program operated by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at U.S. airports. While originally described as a “pilot” or “proofs of concept” by TSA, the program has steadily expanded to over 250 airports as of May 2025.
This report draws upon hundreds of travelers’ lived experiences, through AJL’s Freedom Flyers Campaign. Launched in 2023 as part of its goal to provide everyday people with a means to share experience with AI, the Freedom Flyers Campaign has sought to gather feedback on people’s lived experiences with the facial recognition program conducted at TSA checkpoints. Through this participatory data gathering initiative, AJL asked travelers to submit a TSA scorecard documenting their experiences, informed travelers of the right to opt out, and invited them to share their experiences on social media and with others in their communities.
Download report SEE infographic TRAVELER TESTIMONIES
“All travelers ahead of us were not informed of their right, and TSA was very quick to push them through to the scanner before they had a chance to see the signage. We saw moms struggling with their kids being pushed to the scanner without any opt out options being presented to them.
There were dozens of screens all around the TSA line that displayed everything except the opt out information and instead the opt out information was printed on a measly letter size paper only readable right in front of the scanner.”
San Francisco International Airport, July 2024
“I walked up to the TSA agent [...] and didn’t get right in front of the camera. I was instructed to stand in front of it and I told him “no thank you on thank you [sic]” his response was ‘really? That’s ridiculous, you must be stupid’ ”
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, December 2024
“...I got in line for security and presented my driver’s license to the agent. The agent asked me to stand in front of the camera. Knowing my rights, I asked if I could opt out of the photo. The agent got angry, raising his voice to tell me that ‘we already took your picture’ and that there are ‘a thousand cameras in this airport . . . there’s a camera in your phone too.’ ”
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, October 2024
“I am concerned that millions of people will be roped into a program that compromises their privacy and uses their likeness without their consent. The signag
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