FOI release

Facial Recognition in UK Airports

10178 We have received the following request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000: I append a letter I have sent to the Daily Telegraph…

From:
Home Office
Published
18 September 2008

Documents

http://dematerialisedid.com/PDFs/feasibility_study031111_v2.pdf

PDF, 120 KB, 38 pages

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Details

10178

We have received the following request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000:

I append a letter I have sent to the Daily Telegraph which speaks for itself.
 
This matter is being debated, among other places, at http://forum.no2id.net/viewtopic.php?t=23692&start=0

The various initiatives to use facial recognition in the UK and elsewhere defy all logic, in view of the evidence, and your contribution to the debate would be welcomed.
 
 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/2582164/Machines-to-scan-faces-of-travellers-at-UK-airports.html
 
Sir
 
Mr  is Head of the Home Office Biometrics Centre of Expertise.
 
He is also co-author of a February 2003 report into the feasibility of using biometrics commissioned by the Home Office. According to his report, “face recognition is not strong enough to uniquely identify one person in a population of 50 million” and, when it comes to verifying people’s identity, “even under relatively good conditions, face recognition fails to approach the required performance”.
 
It would be appreciated if  would explain to the public why facial recognition is now being introduced at UK airports.
 
Yours

 
References
http://dematerialisedid.com/PDFs/feasibility_study031111_v2.pdf

We released the following information on 18 September 2008.

Date: Thu Sep 03 15:25:16 BST 2009

Full Document

Published 18 September 2008