UK airports to start passenger face scans

LONDON: British airports are starting trials of a facial recognition system for UK and EU nationals this summer, in an attempt to improve security and reduce congestion. “We will test them this year, and if they work, put them at all key ports,” Home Office Minister for Immigration Liam Byrne said. Clearance gates with facial scanners are being set up to match faces to images stored on computer chips in UK and EU biometric passports. However, several people have said that the system is “extremely optimistic”, saying that even the best systems operate with only 40 percent success. ppi