The U.K.'s largest airport, Heathrow, will install facial recognition scanners by September for international and domestic passengers to prevent illegal immigration in the country. The U.K.’s largest airport, Heathrow, will install facial recognition scanners by September for international and domestic passengers to prevent illegal immigration in the country.The scanners will go in terminals one and five, where international and domestic passengers commingle, said Mary Kearney, senior media relations manager for BAA, which operates Heathrow.The facial recognition scanners will ensure that ticketed passengers board their correct flight. It will prevent, for example, a passenger who arrives from Miami from trying to use a domestic ticket obtained from someone else in the departure lounge and then flying to Glasgow.Since domestic flights do not have immigration counters, it would be possible with the departure lounge arrangement in those terminals for a passenger from Miami to avoid immigration. The departure lounge allows international and domestic passengers to be together so that the domestic passengers have access to the lounge facilities, according to BAA.A passenger’s face will be scanned after they’ve obtained their boarding pass and just before security. Before the person boards their flight, their face will be scanned again once they’ve left the departure lounge. The facial recognition technology comes from Aurora Computer Services, a U.K. based company. It’s called the Aurora Image Recognition (AIR) system and uses a camera with an infrared flash, which the company says can function in either bright or low light. It can identity a person from about three feet away.The camera verifies a person’s identity using biometric details, identifying a person in 4.7 seconds, a time that includes properly positioning a passenger, according to Aurora.The AIR is used in combination with the Passenger Authentication Scanning System (PASS), which is made by the company Atkins. PASS links a person’s travel documents with their photograph and has been used in other parts of Heathrow since 2008.Send news tips and comments to jeremy_kirk@idg.com Related content news analysis Companies are already feeling the pressure from upcoming US SEC cyber rules New Securities and Exchange Commission cyber incident reporting rules don't kick in until December, but experts say they highlight the need for greater collaboration between CISOs and the C-suite By Cynthia Brumfield Sep 28, 2023 6 mins Regulation Data Breach Financial Services Industry news UK data regulator warns that data breaches put abuse victims’ lives at risk The UK Information Commissioner’s Office has reprimanded seven organizations in the past 14 months for data breaches affecting victims of domestic abuse. By Michael Hill Sep 28, 2023 3 mins Electronic Health Records Data Breach Government news EchoMark releases watermarking solution to secure private communications, detect insider threats Enterprise-grade software embeds AI-driven, forensic watermarking in emails and documents to pinpoint potential insider risks By Michael Hill Sep 28, 2023 4 mins Communications Security Threat and Vulnerability Management Security Software news SpecterOps to use in-house approximation to test for global attack variations The new offering uses atomic tests and in-house approximation in purple team assessment to test all known techniques of an attack. By Shweta Sharma Sep 28, 2023 3 mins Penetration Testing Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe