I’m in a bit of a bind. I have to get TSA PreCheck, but I really don’t want to give up my biometric data to the government. I’ve read that TSA PreCheck requires my fingerprints and possibly my photo (it’s unclear). Interesting, though, is that when you’re enrolled in PreCheck you do not get fingerprinted when passing through the airport.
So, I plan to fill in my fingerprints with superglue when I sign up for PreCheck. Weak fingerprints are a condition that affect a lot of people – construction and farm workers, chemo patients, or some people just have it genetically – so I don’t think it will be too weird if my fingerprints don’t show up well in the scan. From what I’ve read (FlyerTalk, Washington Post) you can still get PreCheck even if you have weak fingerprints. And, since they don’t check my fingerprints at the airport, I’m not worried about ever having to match this scan.
My face is effectively a lost cause at this point, so I’m not gonna sweat that one.
My questions.
- Is there any reason my fingerprint plan won’t work?
- The PreCheck sign-up process is run by private companies (Idemia, Telos, Clear) and I can choose which one to use. I am going to rule out Clear. Is there any advantage between using Idemia or Telos?
- Is there anything else I should know before signing up?
EDIT: Wow, these replies are so useless, I had to check to make sure I wasn’t on reddit!
This is silly. You are either going to get in trouble or it simply won’t work. Most airports are going to force you to do facial recognition anyway when you go to show them your ID.
If your fingerprints don’t show up well enough they just won’t pass you for precheck. You don’t get to falsely claim its a condition and they go “oh OK”.
Actually, if you read either of the links provided above, you’ll see that that’s exactly what happens
One is paywalled and one just gives me a blocked page.
Give it a try and update the post. If I was a betting man I’d bet it won’t work.