TSA to Use 'Randomizers' to Route Travelers Into Security Lines and reduce Profiling Bias

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) plans to use electronic "randomizers" to help it funnel passengers into airport security lines, according to USA Today. The purpose of the new device is to tighten security while reducing profiling bias.

The new electronic device would give airport security personnel a bias-free way to route travelers into the security queues, also helping to make it more difficult for potential security evaders.

The TSA has issued a Request for Information (RFI), where it has asked for interested vendors "to share ideas and suggestions for procuring Randomizer systems." The systems would then be deployed at most medium and large commercial U.S. airports, according to the RFI.

"The Randomizers would be used to route the passengers randomly to different checkpoint lines," the TSA said in a statement.

The TSA said that it "employs a multi-layer approach to security, utilizing measures that are both seen and unseen, and will always incorporate random and unpredictable security measures," in a statement to Today In the Sky.

This method is consistent with the agency's attempts to keep potential security evaders off their game by making it more difficult for a potential terrorist to find a queue with a specific explosive detection device or screening procedure.

The device would also enable the TSA to have an automated way of managing security lines with fewer worries about potentially profiling passengers.

The requirements include the ability to "randomize" passengers to queues without using labels or colors that would indicate racial bias.

An example provided by the TSA of a successful Randomizer would "display the binary result to the Passenger and Transportation Security Officer using symbols that do not have negative connotations (No usage of 'Yes/No,' 'O/X,' usage of the color combination of Green and Red)," according to the TSA's RFI read. "(An example of an acceptable signal is an arrow using the same color scheme)."