People travelling from Heathrow Airport will no longer need to use their passport from this summer, according to a report.

The Times reported the airport, which has 78 million annual passengers, is introducing £50 million facial recognition technology.

The process would begin with passengers going to kiosks to scan their passport and have their photo taken.

Their face would then be matched to the passport and travel details. On subsequent journeys, it would mean they can walk through by simply looking into the camera.

Alex Macheras, an aviation consultant, told the paper: “From the point of view of convenience it undoubtedly works, although customers will have concerns about how their data is protected and airports must be transparent about this.”

However, the airport has said it will not ask passengers for data, and that they can choose not to use facial recognition.

London Evening Standard

BDST: 1707 HRS, APR 27, 2019
SI