The UK Border Force could begin trialling smart passport gates enabling passengers to enter the country without showing their passport as early as this year.
Plans are underway to upgrade the UK’s current eGates system so that arriving passengers don’t need to show their passports when passing through border control, instead they will be identified by a camera. The country’s existing eGates (which are open to all travellers aged 10 and above who are British, as well as citizens of the EU, US, Canada, Australia , New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea) rely on facial recognition, with each passenger’s face verified against the data encrypted on their passport. The new system will rely on centralised data with passengers having to register on a database prior to travelling.
Phil Douglas, Director-General of the UK Border Force has said that the country will install hi-tech gates at airports that will use advanced facial recognition technology for people arriving in Britain. By creating an “intelligent border”, the government plans to use more “frictionless facial recognition” than is used currently.
Passport free travel using facial recognition is already used by border force in countries elsewhere, including in Dubai, where since November it has been available for those aged over 15 and above 1.2m tall for 50 nationalities. Singapore has also passed legislation allowing passport-free travel as early as the first half of 2024, with Josephine Teo, Second Minister for Home Affairs, saying that Singapaore will be one of the first few countries in the world to introduce automate, passport-free immigration clearance. Initially it will only be applicable to those leaving Singapore – and passengers flying from Changi to destinations that don’t offer passport-free travel would still need to keep their physical documents handy. Meanwhile, in Australia, where facial recognition technology is already used in the country’s major international airports to verify the identity of travellers using SmartGates, passport-free travel is also being considered.
