Have to say that I agree here! Don't know though of a system that could be used instead of biometric testing. and cannot think of one that might be sufficiently accurate in the percentage of cases where it actually works. Did hear at one time that R.N.i.B. werre conducting discusssions with the authorities to decide on a system which could be used instead of the Iris scan, since many registered blind people would not be able to use the biometric scanners effectively, but never heard what the outcome of this was. Does anyone else know anything about this.
Tony Skype tonycu14 Best wishes to all on the list----- Original Message ----- From: "Ray's Home" <rays-home@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Saturday, April 26, 2008 12:12 PM Subject: [access-uk] Re: airports dong face scans
I don't know if airports have definite procedures for people who's eyes cannot be scanned but they should have. I reported to this list some years back, as well as Vi-gen, that I'd taken part in tests locally of this new system. At that time a van was going round to various places to conduct these tests of the system. It would be clear from those tests that some people weren't going to be able to have their iris's recognized so it isn'nt as if the people installing and running these systems don't know of this problem. Maybe such recognition is used in combination with facial reconition so hats that obscure part of the face or cast shadows have to be avoided, amongst other things. Just think Terminal 5 and all the mayhem that should have been avoided there, if you want an example of a company being shown to be less than competant, and how long will it be before it's reported that great delay or turning away of a passenger on grounds that they do not meet the system's requirments are going to be reported. It's been pointed out too that any biometric test is bound to be less than perfect, i.e. if you've no hands you cannot be finger printed. Clearly exceptions have to be made. From Ray I can be contacted off-list at: mailto:ray-48@xxxxxxxx -----Original Message----- TONY CRETNEY Subject: [access-uk] Re: airports dong face scans Agree it can't be very pleasant for airport staff to have to look at something like an empty eye socket in one of these pictures, if indeed they do have to see the photograph at all! It may be that the picture can be passed over an electronic scanner by the owner without having to have the assistance of airport staff at all! Don't know this is just a thought on reading your message. Tony Skype tonycu14 Best wishes to all on the list ----- Original Message ----- From: "Wendy Sharpe" <w.sharpe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, April 25, 2008 3:44 PM Subject: [access-uk] Re: airports dong face scansA friend of mine always wears dark glasses because she couldn't copewithan artificial eye as a child, so one of her sockets is empty. Sheappliedfor a new passport recently and, as before, had the photos taken with her glasses on. The form was returned, and she was asked to have thephotosre-taken without her glasses. That must be a lovely sight for theairportstaff. Wendy -----Original Message----- From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] OnBehalfOf Jackie Cairns Sent: 25 April 2008 15:37 To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [access-uk] Re: airports dong face scans Hahahahahaha. Sorry, but I can't disguise my amusement. What with my artificial eyes, and the metal in my left ankle and back, I'd giveanyonewith a scanner the run-around at an airport no matter what therecognitiontechniques are. Jackie Email: cairnsplace@xxxxxxx Skype Name: Cairnsplace ----- Original Message ----- From: "Derek Hornby" <derek.hornby_uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: "Access-Uk@Freelists. Org" <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, April 25, 2008 1:53 PM Subject: [access-uk] airports dong face scansHi all The following wa sin The Guardian today, 25 ~~April 2008 Does anyo0ne know if this face scan system is likely to have problems for the blind. I mean wold we need to look in a certain direction, and what aboujteyeswhat if one has no eyes? Face scans for air passengers to begin in UK this summer: Officials say automatic screening more accurate than checks byhumans:Owen Bowcott Airline passengers are to be screened using automated facial recognition technology rather than identity checks by passport officers, in an attempt to improve security and help ease congestion at airports, the Guardian can reveal. From this summer, unmanned clearance gates will be phased in to scan passengers' faces and match the image to the record held on the computer chip in their biometric passports. Border security officials believe the machines can do a better job of screening passports and preventing identity fraud than humans. The first pilot project will be open to UK and EU citizens holding new biometric passports. But there are concerns that passengers will react badly to being rejected by an automated gate. In order to ensure that no one on a police watch list is incorrectly let through the gates, the technology will err on the side of caution and is likely to generate a small number of "false negatives" - innocent passengers rejected because the machines cannot match their appearance to the records. Those rejected may be redirected into passport queues staffed by control officers, or officers may be authorised to override automatic gates following additional checks. Ministers are eager to set up the first trials in time for the summer holiday rush, but they have not yet decided how many airports will take part in the first phase of the programme. If successful, it will be extended to all UK airports. The automated passport clearance gates will introduce the new security technology to the UK mass market for the first time and may transform the public's experience of airports. Existing biometric, fast-track travel schemes - iris and miSense - are already operating at several UK airports. However, they have been aimed at business travellers who are enrolled in advance. The rejection rate in the trials of iris recognition, which uses the unique images of the iris in each traveller's eye, is between 3% and 5%, although some of these were passengers who had not been previously enrolled in the scheme and jumped queues. Plans for the summer trials emerged at a conference in London this week which brought together the international biometrics industry, senior civil servants involved in border control, and police technology experts. At one session Gary Murphy, the head of operational design and development for the UK Border Agency, explained: "We are planning a trial of facial recognition gates to see if they deliver our requirements. We think a machine can do a better job [than manned passport inspections]. "What will the public reaction be? Will they use it? We need to test and see how people react and how they deal with rejection. We hope to get the trial up and running by the summer. "There are also internal staff issues. Will they see it as a threat to their jobs or an opportunity for more interesting work? We want to divert their work to areas where their skills can best be used." Some conference participants feared that passengers would only be fast-tracked forward to the next queue or bottleneck in the UK's overcrowded airport network. The automated gates will enhance the government's progress towards establishing a comprehensive Advance Passenger Information (API) security system that will eventually enable flight details and identities of all passengers to be checked against a security watch list before they take off. At present, what is also known as Project Semaphore, the first stage in the government's e-borders programme, monitors 30m passenger movements a year through the UK. By December 2009, API will be tracking 60% of all passengers and crew movements. The Home Office aim is that by December 2010 the system will be monitoring 95% of passenger movements. Total coverage is not expected to be achieved until 2014 after similar checks have been introduced for travel on "small yachts and private flights". So far around 8m to 10m new UK bio metric passports, containing a computer chip holding the carrier's facial details, have been issued since they were introduced in 2006. The last non-biometric passports will no longer be valid after 2016. Home Office minister Liam Byrne said last night: "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. So the UK Borders Agency will soon be testing new automatic gates for British and European Economic Area [EEA] citizens. We will test them this year and if they work put them at all key ports [and airports]." 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