Returning British holidaymakers will soon be able to skip long passport queues amid plans to use facial recognition technology to scan them though without stopping.
Travellers flying back from abroad will be scanned automatically after touching down, leaving them free to walk to the exit without waiting to get their passport checked.
Brits coming back via ports will also benefit, driving through so-called ‘contactless corridors’ where cameras will use passport and car details from government databases to confirm passengers’ identities, without them needing to exit their vehicle.
The technology, created by four companies, is currently on trial at four UK ports as of November last year and is set to fully launch within the next year, as reported by the Telegraph.
Foreigners coming to Britain will also be able to benefit from the technology – but they will need to submit their data and biometric details via an app before they travel, for adding to the database and for pre-arrival security checks.
British and Irish travellers will have already submitted their biometric details when applying for a passport.
Only ‘passengers of interest’ will need to be manually checked by Border Force – which covers anyone deemed a risk according to intelligence, for safeguarding reasons or over questions around their identity.
The technology has been proposed to cut the mammoth queues at Britain’s coasts and airports during the holiday season. Current ferry company advice is to allow for 90 minutes to get through passport control and check-in at ports.
Currently, at ports, holidaymakers must hand their passport to a Border Force officer through their vehicle window for scanning.
A source who has seen the new technology at work said: ‘Under the new system, instead of getting your passports out, you look at the camera.
‘They have these really high-powered cameras that can look through the windscreen and take a picture of your face and match it to the face on the database. Assuming all is well, then you get the green light and you drive through the border.’
They added that another option that has been floated for ports is drivers winding down their windows to allow each passenger to then look at an iPad for facial scanning.
The aim is to first roll out the technology on sea and train routes, the source said, before expanding to airports.
At airports, new automated border screening system would replace having to go through an eGate or speaking to a Border Force officer.
One company participating in the current trials, biometric security firm iProov, said its technology would identify passengers while they were inside their vehicles, then link that confirmed identity to the vehicle details.
Chief executive Andrew Bud said this latest identity verification technology would streamline the key sector of transport, maintaining accuracy while speeding things up for travellers – and allowing them to remain in their vehicles.
A spokesperson for the Home Office said: ‘We use a wide range of techniques and technology to protect our border security but we do not comment on trials of specific equipment.’
Then-Home Secretary Priti Patel announced the scheme in July 2022.
Speaking about it at the time, the now Shadow Foreign Secretary said: ‘As Home Secretary I have been focused of taking back control of our immigration system through my New Plan for Immigration.
‘This includes ensuring we have a border that is fit for the 21st century which allows travellers to get a visa and pass through the border easily, while maintaining national security.
‘I am also committed to ensuring our fantastic Border Force are given access to the most up to date automation technologies so they can use their specialised skills on protecting our border from those who seek to harm the UK.’
The government at the time said it wanted to speed up the process of getting passengers through its airports and ‘deliver the world’s most effective border’.
How does facial recognition technology work?
Facial recognition software works by matching real time images to a previous photograph of a person.
Each face has approximately 80 unique nodal points across the eyes, nose, cheeks and mouth which distinguish one person from another.
A digital video camera measures the distance between various points on the human face, such as the width of the nose, depth of the eye sockets, distance between the eyes and shape of the jawline.
This produces a unique numerical code that can then be linked with a matching code gleaned from a previous photograph.
