The following report is by Biometric Update:
Travelers to the UK by air will be able to skip passport checks when using biometric gates in trials beginning this year, The Times reports.
UK Border Force Director-General Phil Douglas says the new face biometrics system will reduce friction, compared with the previous system, which also uses facial recognition.
The new implementation is based on the way face biometrics have been deployed in places like Dubai and Australia, Douglas says. It will tie in with the UK’s incoming Electronic Travel authorization (ETA) scheme and provide faster passenger processing with enhanced security, officials say. Douglas also noted the system will be connected to immigration systems to prevent ineligible travellers from boarding.
Procurement and a full launch will follow the trials, assuming success. Eventually, 270 gates will be replaced at air and rail ports. Legacy passport desks are expected to mostly be replaced over the next two to three years.
The use of biometric e-gates in the UK has already expanded to nearly a dozen countries outside of the Europe Union, after originally launching for only travellers from the UK and EU. The system suffered a massive failure during a May 2023 long weekend, delaying numerous travellers for hours.
The ETA scheme is also expanding. In place now for travellers from Qatar, nationals of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Jordan will be eligible starting in February. Eventually it will be extended to all arrivals to the country who do not require a visa for a short visit.
Meanwhile, Channel Tunnel operator Getlink is building a dedicated area at its Kent terminal to process the biometrics of automobile passengers, who will have to depart their vehicles, to align with the EU’s impending biometric Entry/Exit System.
Trials and proposals for passport-free travel are a growing trend in international aviation.
Canada Considers Implementation Options
Transport Canada quietly issued a request for information in October to gather suggestions for how to implement its Air Right Touch project, the National Post reports.
The Air Right Touch initiative involves the use of face biometrics to match travellers to their passport records, without using the passport itself, in line with the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA’s) OneID concept.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is likewise exploring the use of facial recognition for border checks.
A professor quoted by the Post implies that a new database of traveler biometrics will be created, though no suggestion of such a process, which would depart from the OneID model, is made elsewhere. He also expresses concern about misidentification with reference to an intelligence agency error that did not involve face biometrics.
The RFI closed on November 17.
Vietnam Authority Plans Biometric Checks
Vietnam’s Civil Aviation Authority requested approval to continue authenticating air passengers holding ID documents with electronic chips using face biometrics, according to VietNamNet.
A December 25 briefing made the request of the Ministry of Transport, based on a proposal by the Airports Corporation of Vietnam. The airport operator is expecting to complete the procurement of ID document readers, cameras and software for Phu Bai and Cat Bi international airports and Dien Bien airport during the first quarter of 2024.
The policy applies to travellers with the chip-based IDs who agree to share their personal information and biometrics with the system.
Vietnam began issuing chip-based biometric passports in early-2023.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY
Facial recognition passportless terminals at airports are part of a growing trend involving biometrics and facial recognition for everything, to payments, to security, to identity. Of course, it aims to lay the groundwork for the coming mark of the beast.
[16] And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: [17] And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. [18] Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. Revelation 13:16-18
[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).
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Well I’m glad I don’t fly anymore, but it will of course spread to other businesses once it’s grounded in the UK, and then we will have it “in our faces” too. Lord, come quickly, it gets worse every day.