Fingerprint checks to begin at UK border controls

NEWS

Fingerprint checks on foreigners at border controls will begin at the end of November, says the UK Border Agency.

In addition to usual checks at UK border controls, from 30 November, 2009 overseas nationals arriving in the country will have their fingerprints scanned.

All passengers with biometric UK visas, entry clearances and identity cards for foreign nationals will undergo the new procedure.

"The purpose of these checks is to verify that the individual entering the United Kingdom is the same person who gave their biometrics when they applied for their visa, entry clearance or identity card for foreign nationals," said the UK Border Agency in a statement. "Using fingerprints enables us to do this with greater certainty."

The change comes on the same day as identity cards for UK nationals are launched. In response to parliamentary written questions, Home Office minister Meg Hillier said 1,107 people had voluntarily applied for identity cards by 24 November. The applicants were from Greater Manchester, London and airside workers at Manchester and London City airports.

She also said that 2,445 people in Greater Manchester have "expressed an interest in continuing to be updated about the National Identity Service via the Early Interest Website". 749 Mancunians have made an appointment to enrol for an identity card out of 1.7 million who are eligible, she added.

The announcements came as the role of the Identity and Passport Service has been clarified in a Home Office document setting out its strategic objectives, responsibilities and lines of accountability. The IPS was created as an agency separate from the department in 2006.

Talkback

Fantastic! If it's like the US Homeland Security service then it'll add about two minutes per individual to the process.

So the queue from an A380 will stretch from Heathrow halfway to Gatwick, and disperse only in time for the next lumbering behemoth to trundle up. And maybe, just maybe, the last passenger's bag will be on the carousel by the time they get through immigration.

Love travelling by air.

manek 30 November, 2009 12:44 Reply

"and run all the required background security checks, returning relevant responses within a few seconds."

Thats the key there, along with ensuring the network backbone and backups are in place, and secured.

CA 5 December, 2009 00:06 Reply

Further to your article “Fingerprint checks on foreigners at border controls will begin at the end of November, says the UK Border Agency”, this is a positive step in the battle to improve border security. The use of biometrics to verify the identity of an individual entering the country and to ensure the fingerprints match those on the Visa application, will support the drive to combat illegal immigration and address global security concerns.

However, having worked for the past five years with seven countries across the Caribbean on the implementation of biometric systems to improve the quality of border security, it has become very apparent that governments need also to consider the speed of processing of travellers, at the points of entry.

For the UK, which has already seen a drop in tourist numbers due to the global economic crisis, any additional delay entering the country that may deter foreign nationals from travelling could have a further negative economic impact. And there is a strong precedent – when the US first introduced biometrics for border control, tourist numbers fell dramatically and only slowly began to recover.

It is, however, perfectly possible to minimise disruption whilst still imposing stronger security. In the Caribbean, where tourism is of course a substantial component of GDP, it is crucial to address both the essential security requirement and the need to expedite processing. Countries, including Barbados and Grenada have the technological capability to capture an individual’s biometric and passport data and run all the required background security checks, returning relevant responses within a few seconds.

Visitors to the UK are already experiencing longer queues as a result of the decision to read all passport information. It is therefore to be hoped that the introduction of this necessary additional biometric security procedure will not add significant delay or deter either the business or leisure traveller.

Peter Forrest, DPM Systems
Managing Director
www.dpmsys.com

PWF 7 December, 2009 18:11 Reply

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in

Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

Will not be displayed with your comment

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

ZDNet UK Live

mgibs17

Well, itâs amazing. The miracle has been done. Hatâs off. Well done, as we know that âhard work always pays offâ, after a long struggle...

6 hours ago by mgibs17 on Salesforce chief: Enterprise tech lacks innovation
mgibs17

Well, itâs amazing. The miracle has been done. Hatâs off. Well done, as we know that âhard work always pays offâ, after a long struggle...

6 hours ago by mgibs17 on Govt to review US extradition treaty
OpenSourceLinux

omg!!!! I been using read hat linux for a while sience 1998 and i recently got tire of that distor and tryed slackware 13.1.... i no longer want...

10 hours ago by OpenSourceLinux on Slackware Linux 13.1
OpenSourceLinux

omg!!!! I been using read hat linux for a while sience 1998 and i recently got tire of that distor and tryed slackware 13.1.... i no longer want...

10 hours ago by OpenSourceLinux
Tezzer

About time too!

11 hours ago by Tezzer on Govt to review US extradition treaty
Tezzer

Speaking purely from observation, I've seen only a handful of people actually using netbooks (and have one myself). None of them were running...

11 hours ago by Tezzer on While PC shipments will grow to a million per day, netbooks are in decline
WasteOfTime

Imagine how stupid ZDnet must feel considering it takes about 10-30 seconds to load their stupid webpage filled with ads from other sites. While...

11 hours ago by WasteOfTime on Google’s Buckyballs doodle costs people money, drives users away
SeanTheMac

Unfortunately AnAmericanFellow you seem to be in the minority. ;)

12 hours ago by SeanTheMac on Google’s Buckyballs doodle costs people money, drives users away
J.A. Watson

@manek - No, I'm saying that there are concrete statements from netbook manufacturers and REPUTABLE analysts that indicate the Linux share of the...

13 hours ago by J.A. Watson on While PC shipments will grow to a million per day, netbooks are in decline
apexwm

Mary : Being familiar with both Windows and Linux extensively, I would be curious to know what kinds of learning issues there were with Linux...

13 hours ago by apexwm on While PC shipments will grow to a million per day, netbooks are in decline
sbisson

I always thought that Wave was ideal for machines and lousy for humans...

13 hours ago by sbisson on Forcing Things Social
manek

Any news on when we'll see the putative benefits? It would be nice to see an uninterrupted data connection - even a 2G one - on a a train journey I...

13 hours ago by manek on Ofcom pumps up the volume for 3G networks
manek

So you're saying that some 25 percent of netbook buyers throw away a copy of Windows they've paid for and install Linux instead. If netbook users...

13 hours ago by manek on While PC shipments will grow to a million per day, netbooks are in decline
apexwm

Jamie, you bring up a good point. There hasn't been much news regarding netbooks in a while, especially on what they are running. Jack doesn't...

15 hours ago by apexwm on While PC shipments will grow to a million per day, netbooks are in decline
AnAmericanFellow

On behalf of all Americans, I would like to apologise for the twit that insisted on the American spelling of 'realized'. Some of us are aware of...

16 hours ago by AnAmericanFellow on Google’s Buckyballs doodle costs people money, drives users away
feaband

IE 7? It uses all that CPU just to open a tab. Really, I saw those claims, really, most of them are, simply put, just full of BS. My machine isn't...

17 hours ago by feaband
Rupert Goodwins

Mmm. Google could do with something like this. It would be brave of them - in fact, they could call it Google Brave. Or Cave. Or something like that.

17 hours ago by Rupert Goodwins on Forcing Things Social
J.A. Watson

"Linux being a disastrous failure in the netbook marketplace. (Linux went from 100% market share to less than 5%" Obviously untrue. Here is...

18 hours ago by J.A. Watson on While PC shipments will grow to a million per day, netbooks are in decline
Chris Rankin

> just want my default browser to load quickly so I can then as effortlessly as possible type > the URL I do want to go to and be done with it. In...

18 hours ago by Chris Rankin on Google’s Buckyballs doodle costs people money, drives users away
eldridgep

I always use Google as a home page for any PC I work on as I just want my default browser to load quickly so I can then as effortlessly as possible...

18 hours ago by eldridgep on Google’s Buckyballs doodle costs people money, drives users away

Featured white papers

Taking a Business Centric Approach to Service Level Compliance

Business reliance on ever more complex computer systems increases every year. These systems are at the heart of business success

Download now

Double-Take Workload Portability:X2X Sever and Storage Migration Solutions

Double-Take Move provides migration functionality that dramatically reduces the impact and risk of migrations in the data center..

Download now

The Intelligent Company White Paper

Accounting and other business systems are packed with useful, and often critical, business information which can be turned to competitive

Download now