Biometrics To Protect Borders

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Protecting airports, seaports, and border checkpoints is a major concern for national security agencies. These hubs provide not only the most accessible passage in and out of a country, but also an enticing target for terrorists and criminals. Biometric technologies will help protect these vital pieces of national infrastructure, and some countries are already jumping on board with the newest developments.

Singapore is rolling out a biometric entry and exit programme for travellers to and from the country in order to bolster security, the Straits Times reports. The biometric border security programme will commence immediately at the country’s sea- and land-ports and will be introduced at airports within months.

A spokesperson for the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) explained that every traveller aged six or above who uses the manned counters at immigration checkpoints will have to scan both their thumbprints upon arrival or departure, Singaporean and foreign visitors alike.

Desmond Choo from the Government Parliamentary Committee for Home Affairs and Law said: “The evolving and escalated global security threat means that a global passenger transit hub such as Singapore must step up its surveillance and protective work.”

The United Arab Emirates are implementing a somewhat different approach. UAE settled on Morpho’s multi-biometric border management system called “e-Border,” following a successful pilot conducted in the Abu Dhabi international airport in 2012.

In addition to fingerprint reading, the system implemented at UAE performs on-the-fly iris recognition to identify citizens. This is particularly useful in the UAE, as female adherents of Islam in the region often wear full face coverings.

The e-Border system has been implemented at five major airports in the Emirates to effectively manage the arrivals and departures of all travellers.