Plans to install smart gates (eGates) equipped with advanced facial recognition at airports this year will mean passengers will be able to enter the UK just by looking into a camera. Similar technology is already being used in countries such as Dubai, which uses facial recognition for 50 countries, and Australia.
January 12, 2024
Trials of the new electronic gates will begin this year, with the aim of creating a “smart border” that will use “much simpler facial recognition than currently available.” The UK already has an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) for foreigners arriving in the UK without a visa. The system costs £10 per passenger.
There are currently around 270 eGates at 15 UK rail and air ports that are due to be upgraded to the new technology. They can be used by passengers aged over ten who are British citizens or citizens of an EU country, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland and the US. The news comes after the EU announced that British travellers will have to be fingerprinted and photographed when they enter the EU from next autumn.
Testing of this new advanced technology is scheduled to begin at the airport later this year, ahead of launching a full procurement process for the new gates.
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British travellers will be required to have their fingerprints scanned and their photograph taken when entering the European Union, under new rules that are part of the forthcoming entry/exit system (EES), which applies to non-EU passport holders and is scheduled to launch on October 6, 2024, after being pushed back from an initial date of May 2023.
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