Facial recognition is being used in more and more areas. A month ago, Apple introduced it in the iPhone, where you can use it to unlock your phone or to make payments with Apple Pay. According to Apple, the technology knows when it is you, and is able to see the difference between your face and a picture of it. On airports a far more advanced way of facial recognition is being introduced, as they are looking for ways to handle the increasing amount of passengers.
Amsterdam Schiphol airport introduced a test with facial recognition in the beginning of this year, in cooperation with KLM. (Schiphol, 2017) The technology is used for the boarding process. After passengers have passed through security, they are able to register themselves at a special kiosk in the waiting area of the gate. After that, their boarding pass and passport can stay in your pocket, as access to the airplane will be granted after their face has been scanned. This is one of the tests the airport is doing to reduce boarding times. (KLM, 2017)
This week, Dubai airport has announced that they will use facial recognition for the security check as well, starting in 2018 (TheVerge, 2017) The airport will place similar kiosks in the terminal, where passengers can scan their passport, boarding pass and face. When this is done, the passengers can pass the security through a tunnel filled with 80 cameras that will scan the passengers face from many different angles, while the passenger keeps walking. Once at the end of the tunnel, a red or green light will indicate if everything is fine and if the passenger can board the plane. (The National, 2017)
However, is it really safe to let the computer do the check? Apple said their iPhone camera will unlock the phone by mistake, once in a million times. How high this fail rate needs to be at an airport where more than 80 million people travel through every year? (Dubai Airports, 2017) Also, what is going to happen with all of the data? Schiphol says the data will be deleted after 10 hours, but people mentioned concerns about what could happen with the data. The government could force the involved companies to get access to the data in order to use it in investigations. This already happened in the San Benardino case, where Apple had to unlock an iPhone for the FBI. (Wired, 2017) Do these advantages of facial recognition outweigh the privacy issues it brings?
Sources:
https://www.thenational.ae/uae/transport/dubai-airport-s-new-virtual-aquarium-tunnel-scans-your-face-as-you-walk-through-it-1.665406#5
https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/10/16451842/dubai-airport-face-recognition-virtual-aquarium
http://news.klm.com/test-at-schiphol-boarding-quickly-and-easily-using-facial-recognition/
https://www.schiphol.nl/en/page/biometric-boarding/
https://www.wired.com/story/apples-faceid-could-be-a-powerful-tool-for-mass-spying/
http://www.dubaiairports.ae/corporate/media-centre/fact-sheets/detail/dubai-airports
