Home Secretary heralds E passport gates as a success

The British Home Secretary Alan Johnson has today announced that the number of passengers to have used the new face scanning technology at UK airports has reached the one million mark.

Johnson has praised the new facial recognition technology which provides for speedier passage for legitimate travelers to the UK through immigration control, which then frees up officers from the UK Border Agency to concentrate on travelers they deem to be high risk.

The Home Secretary made the proclamation during an inspection of the new facial recognition technology gates at the Gatwick Airport North Terminal. The self service gates at the airport have played host to over 950,000 passengers who have had their biometric details scanned and compared against a list of watch criteria before being granted access to the UK, although the process itself takes mere minutes.

Facial recognition gates provide passengers with the option of choosing between joining the queues at the traditional, manned counters or accessing the self service gates. The gates work by scanning each individual’s face and comparing it with their passport’s digital photo. If the match is accurate thee-passport gates then open enabling a simple border crossing.

The gates are still attended to by officers from the UK Border Agency who monitor the traffic flow and deal with any person rejected by the gates. UKBA staff also make manual checks on all passengers where the feel it is appropriate.

The new facial recognition technology has already proved to be popular a Stansted, Cardiff, Birmingham, Manchester, and Bristol Airports.