what did the agent mean by this ?

so i’m a bit of a privacy nerd, if only for the principle of it at this point. I don’t use face id or have my fingerprints anywhere. usually I consent to the face recognition at the airport but just wasn’t feeling it this morning and said can I opt out and you just look at me? the guy burst out laughing and said you have a passport and you’re opting out?

can someone explain that to me ? did i miss something in the passport process about providing biometrics? other than my photo obviously