Alan Johnson, the UK Home Minister, has visited the Gatwick Airport to witness the biometric checkpoint gates designed to ease lines at immigration and increase security, according to an article form The Independent. The gates, which are run by the UK Border Agency, utilize facial recognition technology to match the traveler to the electronic image in their passport to authenticate their identity. Additionally, traveler’s info is checked against the terrorist and criminal watch lists.
While witnessing the gates in action, Johnson, who himself is not able to utilize the gates due to still having an old passport, commented on how the gates are only usable by those who qualify as low-risk travelers. The travelers who have been using the system have so far given it good marks saying that it makes movement into the country through immigration much quicker.
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