All air passengers to give their fingerprints ...

All air passengers to give their fingerprints ... but is the reason security or simply to raise profits for the duty-free shops?

By Jason Lewis
Last updated at 1:03 AM on 27th July 2008

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Millions of passengers flying from British airports will be fingerprinted from next year under the latest controversial Government anti-terror plans.

The measures, which will apply to both domestic and international passengers, are being introduced despite opposition from the Information Commissioner, Britain’s privacy watchdog.

The Commissioner forced Heathrow to abandon a similar plan earlier this year after warning that it was potentially illegal under data protection laws.

Critics say the main reason for the scheme is that airport operators want to maximise profits by ensuring all passengers are able to spend money in ‘duty-free’ shops.
Airport fingerprinting

1. A passenger places a hand on a scanner, which records four fingerprints.
2. He or she then faces a camera and is photographed.
3. As prints are checked against databases, passengers go airside, where international and domestic travellers mix in huge 'duty free' shopping malls.
4. Passengers are fingerprint-scanned again at flight gates.


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* MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: Fingerprinted in the name of BAA greed

As a result, ‘common departure lounges’, where both domestic and international passengers can mix freely, are being introduced at all major UK airports.

This poses an obvious security risk in that an incoming international passenger – possibly a terrorist or a criminal – could switch tickets with an accomplice booked on a domestic flight.

The international passenger would then be able to fly elsewhere in Britain and enter the country without being checked by immigration authorities.

Now, the Home Office is putting the finishing touches to new rules requiring compulsory fingerprinting for all passengers.

The amendments to national aviation security rules will require fingerprints to be scanned when passengers pass through security into the airside terminal. Passengers will be fingerprint-scanned again at their flight departure gate.

It is likely that the scheme will later be expanded to cover passengers at major seaports and the Channel Tunnel rail links.

The measures will enable police and the Security Services to check fingerprints against international watch lists and Interpol databases, searching for suspects travelling on false identities.

Behind-the-scenes discussions are well advanced and the Home Office’s Border and Immigration Agency is expected to issue new orders to airport operators before Christmas. The changes can be introduced under existing legislation, without the need for a debate in Parliament.

Last night, a Border Agency spokesman said: ‘We are considering using fingerprint checks to confirm passenger identities before boarding at UK airports.’

He said the Government was determined to ‘strengthen our borders using new technology’. And he said it was already fingerprinting people applying for visas to enter Britain, using electronic checks to count people in and out – and would require foreign nationals to carry ID cards from November.

But the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has said it has concerns about any proposals to fingerprint passengers.

It asked why fingerprinting was necessary to confirm people’s identities at airports when the authorities have, until now, successfully relied on ‘less intrusive’ photographs.

At the time, the Deputy Information Commissioner said that any passengers asked to give their fingerprints at airports should do so only ‘under protest’.

Last night, an ICO spokesman said: ‘We have raised the data protection implications of the proposals with BAA and UK Borders Agency. We have requested more information about the requirements the agency may have for fingerprint checks.’

Until now, airports with common terminals such as Gatwick and Manchester have taken digital photos as people pass through security and have then rechecked their identities at departure gates. But the Home Office says this is no longer sufficient.

And the Spanish-owned BAA said the scanners were necessary so that all passengers could mix in the terminals’ huge airside shopping mall, which includes BAA-owned World Duty Free stores.

Passengers passing through security place a hand on an electronic scanner which records four fingerprints. They then face a camera and are photographed.

BAA’s website said at the time: ‘We are transforming Heathrow to make big improvements for all passengers.

‘Domestic passengers will in future use the same departure lounges as international passengers. That means all our passengers will enjoy the same wide choice of shops and restaurants.’

Since 2004, visitors to America have been fingerprint-scanned and digitally photographed on arrival.

From next year, the US authorities also intend to fingerprint-scan people departing the country.