What could the future hold for airport technology (for example, biometrics) in handling airport security and preventing terrorism?
In order to effectively secure their borders, governments need to know who will be arriving and departing from their territory. One way to do this would be by issuing passports that contain a biometric. A biometric is a unique, measurable characteristic that can provide governments with the ability to ensure that the holder of the passport is the person actually issued with the passport. The International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO, produced a Blueprint for the issuance of passports containing biometrics, or e-passports, as they are known, in 2003. The biometrics chosen for use in aviation was the facial image, which is compulsory for an e-passport and optionally a fingerprint or an iris scan. Some 30+ countries are now issuing e-passports and it is envisaged that the annual volume of e-passports issued will exceed 45 million next year. If an airline is able to read the biometric when a passenger checks in, and can then verify the passenger’s identity at various points along the
