Leyna Holt says the scanning problem hits her every single time she flies. Since getting her Tennessee REAL ID early last year, the Nashville-area resident has watched TSA agents stop her at the checkpoint and run her card through the reader two or three times before it finally clears. She does not think she is an isolated case.
Tennessee’s Department of Safety and Homeland Security has acknowledged the issue publicly, saying in a statement that it is aware of “a small number of Tennesseans” whose driver’s licenses are failing to scan at TSA airport checkpoints. As reported by WSMV, the state has not confirmed the exact cause of the problem, though it is reviewing the affected IDs. Holt, who lives near Nashville International Airport, told the station she is skeptical the trouble is as limited as officials suggest, saying it may be more widespread than the state has acknowledged.
Holt described the routine to WSMV: TSA personnel stop her every time and scan her ID two or three times before letting her through. During a trip through Houston, she said, a TSA agent told her the issue involved Tennessee IDs and “many” Kentucky IDs as well, and that the photos were simply too light for the reader to recognize.
A Contrast Problem Baked Into the Printing Process
The technical explanation traces back to how the cards are made. Tennessee driver’s licenses and REAL IDs are not printed at local Driver Services Centers or in Nashville; hard copies are produced at an out-of-state secure printing facility and mailed to applicants, a process that can take up to 20 business days, according to Roane County Government. Some of those newly issued cards feature photos with lighter contrast or overexposed backgrounds that pass a basic visual check but fall short of what automated readers need to map facial landmarks, the same report notes…