Australia: Sydney Airport to trial biometrics

With a flash of their face, passengers flying overseas will be able to walk through Sydney Airport's international terminal to their waiting plane almost without showing their passport. That is the goal of a trial of biometric testing due to start in May at Australia's largest airport. "Your face will be your passport and boarding pass. There will be no fumbling for passports," Sydney Airport's new CE, Geoff Culbert, said. Culbert, who took the reins from long-time CEO Kerrie Mather last month, said biometric processing had the potential to revolutionise the journey for passengers through the airport. "We are not aware of this being done to this extent anywhere else in the world," he said. By the end of the year, Qantas passengers who want to be part of the trial will be able to pass through the six steps of check in, bag drop, border processing, security screening, airport lounge and boarding gate after showing their passport only once for verification. If successful, the airport expects to quickly extend it to other airlines. The introduction of facial-recognition technology at electronic gates in recent years has reduced the average amount of time people using it spend passing through Customs from about 4 minutes to 23 seconds. Passengers wanting to be part of the trial will need to register with the Australian Border Force once it begins in May. Details about exactly what information, such as photographs that passengers will need to provide, are yet to be revealed. But Sydney University associate professor Uri Gal, who specialises in data privacy, said it raised serious questions about how and where "very sensitive" personal data was stored, and whether adequate safeguards were in place to ensure it was not hacked or used by third parties for profit.<br/>