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British Test Biometrics at Borders

The British governmentbeset by fears of terrorists, crime and illegal immigrationhas drawn up wide plans to drop a tight electronic curtain over its borders during the next seven years

By Jeremy Kirk, IDG News Service

May 21, 2007 — IDG News Service — BORDER SECURITY The British governmentbeset by fears of terrorists, crime and illegal immigrationhas drawn up wide plans to drop a tight electronic curtain over its borders during the next seven years. It is testing several technologies as part of its e-Borders program, which aims for thorough oversight of travelers coming to the United Kingdom.

So far, more than 60,000 travelers have participated in a program that uses biometric data to speed people through immigration lines. The Iris Recognition Immigration System (IRIS) stores the iris pattern of a persons eye and passport details in a database, which enables that person to pass through immigration electronically without a face-to-face encounter. The U.K. government says the program has facilitated 210,000 border crossings since its debut in March 2006.

At Londons Heathrow Airport, passengers tested the MiSense program, which encompassed a check-in kiosk and a different biometric electronic immigration system named MiSenseplus, says Stephen Challis, head of product development for BAA, which runs the airport. The 18 participants in the MiSense program (misense.org) included technology vendors, consultants, airlines and British government agencies.

The check-in kiosk used biometric data to verify passengers from check-in through to boarding. The kiosk scanned the number-and-letter code on the passports photo page along with the passengers fingerprint. Before boarding, the passenger had to pass through a MiSense gate again and pass another fingerprint scan. About 2,000 people used the kiosk during its trial at the Emirates and Cathay Pacific airlines ticket desks.

The immigration part of the program, MiSenseplus, took more biometric data: a retinal scan, 10 fingerprints and a facial scan. About 1,000 people used the system to pass through immigration in London, Dubai and Hong Kong, according to BAA.

The MiSense and MiSenseplus trials ended Jan. 31, while the IRIS project is ongoing. Damon Hunt, press officer for BAA, says both technologies remain under evaluation by the government and he cant detail future plans, though authorities are pleased so far.

Also ongoing is Project Semaphore, another trial component of e-Borders, which runs through March 2008. The project checks passenger names against government law enforcement databases before they arrive in Britain. So far, 800 people have been arrested as a result of the checks, according to the Home Office.

Eric Woods, government practice director with consultancy Ovum, says most citizens respond positively to plans for stronger borders, even as fierce debates continue in the U.K. and Europe over how that passenger data is handled. The U.K. government has said only that it wants to keep passenger data for a reasonable amount of time to trace terrorist movements.