How Privacy Enhancing Technologies Can Protect Us at the Airport

Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) address the dire need to safeguard private and proprietary data in a variety of industries and platforms. One of the possible applications of PETs is in the field of travel, where they could be introduced in TSA checks at the airport.

In March 2024, the TSA rolled out a new experimental self-service screening system security check at the Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. Passengers who use the self-screening stations are asked to voluntarily share their ID, including name and picture, as well as their height, travel information, and even an X-ray of the contents of their carry-on.

The goal of the self-screening is to expedite the screening process. However, uploading, sharing, and digitally storing these highly personal details raises major privacy concerns.

The TSA has faced privacy issues in the past as well. In 2023, a Swiss hacker leaked the 2019 TSA No-Fly List containing the personal information of 1.5 million people who were barred from flying due to security concerns. The TSA regularly shares its No-Fly List with airlines around the world so they can screen passengers, and this leaked list was discovered on an unsecured server belonging to CommuteAir.

How can the TSA and airline industry keep individuals’ private information safe, while still maintaining the same vigilance about potential security threats?

Fully Homomorphic Encryption Protects Your Privacy

The most promising PET for securing passenger privacy is Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE). FHE allows applications to perform computation on encrypted data without ever decrypting it.  By applying FHE to its databases, the TSA could maintain the ability to analyze and share passenger data without revealing or compromising any of the information. This would also hold true for any outside agency or company that would need to use the data, including airlines. Whether in self-screening stations or on airline servers, sensitive information would always be stored, transferred, and, thanks to FHE, even processed in its encrypted format.

Chain Reaction is at the forefront of the race to design and produce a processor that will enable real-time processing of Full Homomorphic Encryption. This cutting-edge technology will usher the TSA and similar governmental agencies into a new era of privacy-preserving data collaboration and security.