The UK’s Border Force could introduce facial recognition for travellers entering the country that would replace the need to present passports upon arrival.
Phil Douglas, director general of Border Force, told The Times that the agency was considering using facial recognition technology at e-gates in UK airports.
Douglas told the newspaper that he had been “really impressed” by e-gate schemes that have already been installed at airports in Australia and Dubai.
He added that he wanted to create an “intelligent border” for entry to the UK, which uses “much more frictionless facial recognition than we currently do”.
The Australian system requires travellers to apply for an electronic travel authorisation, with the passenger using their smartphone to read the chip in the passport as part of this application process.
The traveller’s photograph is then sent to Australian border authorities, which can later be matched by facial recognition technology when they arrive at the airport without them having to use their passport.
Trials of this kind of technology in the UK are set to be launched later this year and, if successful, the Border Force would look to buy the necessary equipment to install the service across the country’s airports.