UK airports to use facial recognition security scanners

European air travelers to Britain will be screened with automatic facial recognition technology from this summer in a bid to tighten security and ease congestion, the government said yesterday.

Citizens of Britain and all European Economic Area countries will pass through unmanned clearance gates which will scan passengers’ faces and compare them to data held on their biometric passports.

“Britain’s border security is now among the toughest in the world and tougher checks do take time, but we don’t want long waits,” junior Home Office minister Liam Byrne said.

“We will test them this year and if they work, put them at all key ports,” Byrne said.

The European Economic Area includes all 27 EU countries as well as Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

The Guardian newspaper reported that the technology being used has been programmed to err on the side of caution to ensure that travelers on security services’ watch lists are not allowed to freely pass through.