From Airports to Everyday Life: The UK’s Biometric Push Threatens Privacy
CONSCIENTIOUS CURRENCY
The exploration of facial recognition and digital IDs for air travel to replace physical boarding passes in the UK is part of a broader push now being promoted to “modernise flying”. This is being driven by “efficiency goals” and supported, unsurprisingly, by the United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology in UK Airports
The UK is actively exploring biometric technologies, including facial recognition, to “streamline airport” processes. The concept involves passengers uploading passport details to a smartphone-based “journey pass” or “digital travel credential”, which would then use facial recognition to verify identity at various checkpoints, (e.g., security, boarding gates).
- Trials of facial recognition technology for travel purposes were first touted in January 2024, when Phil Douglas, Director General of the UK Border Force, expressed interest in an “intelligent border” using facial recognition at eGates, inspired by systems in Australia and Dubai.
- Trials were then conducted between December 2024 and February 2025, testing advanced facial comparison technology for identifying passengers within vehicles at border crossings. “The initiative was part of the UK Home Office’s broader efforts to modernise border security infrastructure. Previous initiatives (reported in 2023), have demonstrated the government’s commitment to exploring innovative biometric solutions for enhanced security measures”. The UK Home Office used facial recognition led by iProov for the trials. Although focused on ports, the trials indicated active biometric testing by the Home Office, suggesting parallel efforts at airports were underway
- A March 2025 report in Travel and Tour World indicated that the UK had launched a “major expansion” of facial recognition technology across 14 major airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick, and Manchester, building on earlier trials at Heathrow from 2018 and Gatwick from 2019. This suggests that trials have progressed to a broader implementation phase. From the linked article, which I highly recommend everyone reads: “The system cross-references facial scans with existing passport and vehicle data to verify identities….. This new initiative is designed to reduce wait times, especially during peak travel periods, and ensure heightened security with minimal human intervention”…. “Cameras will automatically scan faces and match the data with information already stored in government systems, such as passport and vehicle details”….“This breakthrough system will not only be implemented at travel ports but is also being considered for use at UK airports, by automatically scanning passengers as they land”.
- The Telegraph reported on the secret use of facial recognition cameras at airports on 24th March 2025. Read the article and you will see that this has been going on for a long time – no doubt to build up relevant databases. “Facial recognition cameras have been secretly monitoring airport passengers under a scheme backed by the Home Office, documents obtained under freedom of information (FoI) laws reveal”….. “Unpublished Home Office orders reveal airports are required to carry out biometric face scanning of any passenger boarding a domestic flight”….. “The orders, made under Schedule Two of the Immigration Act 1971, are the first known examples of the Government making facial recognition a legal requirement”….. “They have been in place for at least 15 years, since the last Labour government, but have never been publicly disclosed….
- British Airways, Air France-KLM, Finnair, and Saudia Airlines are now reviewing Amadeus’s “journey pass” system, which integrates booking details and biometric verification. This system notifies airlines of a passenger’s presence via facial scans upon airport arrival, bypassing traditional check-in. The system will mean passengers will complete check-in and catch their flight without showing a passport or boarding pass – because their passport details will be stored on their phones and airports would be alerted to their arrival when their face is scanned on entry. “Travel technology company Amadeus told the newspaper that the changes were the “biggest in 50 years. The reports suggests that such technology could be rolled out more widely within the next three years”.
- As you likely already know, the UK government is developing a digital wallet for citizens to store documents like passports and driving licenses, potentially integrating with travel systems. This was announced by Technology Secretary Peter Kyle in January 2025, with a planned launch in June 2025. You can find more details here. By 2027, ministers want all Government-issued ID cards available in the app, locked behind biometric data such as facial recognition – and unlocked in the same way as when paying using Apple Pay or Google Pay on a phone. “Privacy campaigners say the plan has echoes of Tony Blair‘s failed attempt to introduce ID cards in the last Labour government …. and could expose Brits’ most sensitive information to hackers”… “Silkie Carlo, director of privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, said the digital ID system risked being ‘all-encompassing’, bringing together ‘a huge amount of information’ and creating a ‘nightmare database state’”.
UN-Backed Plans:
The ICAO is also pushing for a global “digital travel credential” to replace physical documents, with a target implementation by 2028. This “journey pass” would store passport and flight details on smartphones, automatically updating for delays or rebooking. Facial recognition will verify identities, potentially making physical passports and boarding passes obsolete. “ICAO’s proposal also envisions broader use cases for the DTC beyond air travel, including identity verification for hotels, car rentals, and other services. This could eventually extend into adjacent sectors such as banking or public services, raising additional questions about governance, consent, and data protection”.
MSM articles from April 2025 highlight the ongoing push for digital travel documents but barely touch on the huge privacy challenges and concerns of these technologies:
- The Guardian (April 11, 2025): Reports on ICAO’s plans for a “digital travel credential” using facial recognition and a journey pass. The article notes potential implementation within three years and cites privacy concerns but then claims that Amadeus claims data is wiped quickly.
- Euronews (April 14, 2025): Discusses the paperless future of air travel, with trials in Finland, Singapore, and Amsterdam. The ICAO’s system is framed as a response to growing passenger numbers (projected to reach 8 billion by 2040). Privacy and data breach risks are minimally acknowledged and not detailed.
- The Independent (April 12, 2025): Predicts a “digital revolution” by the early 2030s, with facial recognition replacing boarding passes. It notes existing biometric systems in Singapore and Australia and emphasises passenger preference for speed, citing a 2022 IATA survey where 75% favoured biometrics.
- iNews (April 11, 2025): Highlights Amadeus’s journey pass and UK digital wallet plans. It mentions trials by British Airways and others, with privacy addressed via (unverified) data deletion protocols.
- The Times of India (April 14, 2025): Frames the ICAO’s 2028 target as a global shift, emphasising reduced wait times, minimally noting privacy and infrastructure challenges.
Criticisms about Digital ID and Facial Recognition in General
There are of course significant concerns about facial recognition and digital IDs in general and not just related to cross border travel. These can be summarised as:
- Data Security:
- Data breaches – biometric data is highly sensitive. A breach could enable identity theft, as noted by Jeramie D. Scott of the EPIC Project on surveillance oversight in the context of law enforcement. The US retains non-citizens’ biometric data for up to 75 years, raising similar concerns for UK systems.
- In relation to travel, Amadeus’s 15-second data deletion claim is unverified independently, and there’s no guarantee policies won’t change to allow longer retention.
- Bias and Discrimination:
- Studies show facial recognition is less accurate for women, people of colour, and nonbinary individuals, potentially causing misidentifications or delays. Investigations have found that darker-skinned women are twice as likely to fail UK passport photo checks.
- The ACLU-MN cites cases like Kylese Perryman, falsely arrested due to facial recognition errors, highlighting risks in high-stakes contexts.
- Surveillance and Rights:
- Privacy International, back in May 2024, warned that facial recognition could lead to a “dystopian biometric surveillance state,” especially without UK-specific laws. A 2023 survey found 70% of MPs were unaware of facial recognition deployments in their constituencies. Privacy International rightly cited Clause 27 of the Criminal Justice Bill which was progressing in May 2024, and which was to allow the Secretary of State to create regulations to grant police and another 19 bodies further access to driver licence records, such as the Driving Vehicle License Agency (DVLA) records, by amending Section 27 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000. The regulations were to expand the reasons for which the police and other bodies could access DVLA records beyond their current legal restriction to road traffic offences, to include “general purposes and circumstances as are related to policing or law enforcement”. The Criminal Justice Bill fell when parliament was dissolved before the general election in 2024. However, we now have The Crime and Policing Bill 2024-25, introduced in February 2025, which again proposes to expand police access to the DVLA database, which includes information on over 50 million drivers, including names, addresses, dates of birth, photographs, endorsements, convictions, and relevant medical information. While the bill doesn’t specifically mention facial recognition, human rights groups like Liberty and Big Brother Watch have expressed concerns that this access could enable its use. You can read more about this bill in my article below
Legislation Watch – The Crime and Policing Bill
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The Crime and Policing Bill 2025 was introduced in the House of Commons on 25th February 2025. You can find the bill here as well as related briefing documents and impact assessments.
- Privacy International, back in May 2024, warned that facial recognition could lead to a “dystopian biometric surveillance state,” especially without UK-specific laws. A 2023 survey found 70% of MPs were unaware of facial recognition deployments in their constituencies. Privacy International rightly cited Clause 27 of the Criminal Justice Bill which was progressing in May 2024, and which was to allow the Secretary of State to create regulations to grant police and another 19 bodies further access to driver licence records, such as the Driving Vehicle License Agency (DVLA) records, by amending Section 27 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000. The regulations were to expand the reasons for which the police and other bodies could access DVLA records beyond their current legal restriction to road traffic offences, to include “general purposes and circumstances as are related to policing or law enforcement”. The Criminal Justice Bill fell when parliament was dissolved before the general election in 2024. However, we now have The Crime and Policing Bill 2024-25, introduced in February 2025, which again proposes to expand police access to the DVLA database, which includes information on over 50 million drivers, including names, addresses, dates of birth, photographs, endorsements, convictions, and relevant medical information. While the bill doesn’t specifically mention facial recognition, human rights groups like Liberty and Big Brother Watch have expressed concerns that this access could enable its use. You can read more about this bill in my article below
The move toward facial recognition and digital IDs for travel and more generally raises huge unresolved ethical questions. The lack of specific UK legislation governing facial recognition in airports, combined with indefinite data retention for non-citizens, risks eroding privacy. Bias in algorithms could disproportionately harm marginalised groups, raising real concerns about unequal treatment and surveillance creep. The UK’s digital wallet and ICAO’s global push also suggest a future where opting out of the digital framework becomes impractical, potentially normalising biometric tracking beyond airports (e.g., for banking, trains, retail shopping etc).
The UK’s push for facial recognition and digital IDs, prioritises “efficiency” but sidesteps the above. The Telegraph’s exposure of secret scanning since 2010 suggests a lack of transparency, potentially building biometric databases without oversight. MSM articles (The Guardian, Euronews etc) downplay privacy risks, relying on unverified claims like Amadeus’s data deletion, while ignoring systemic issues like bias and surveillance creep. The GOV.UK Wallet’s optional nature is undermined by the practical necessity of digital IDs in a biometric-driven future, echoing Tony Blair’s failed ID card scheme. Public distrust, seen on social media, reflects these concerns.
The Crime and Policing Bill 2024-25, introduced in February 2025, exacerbates all these concerns by proposing expanded police access to DVLA records. While not explicitly mentioning facial recognition, the bill’s vague “policing purposes” clause could enable its use, linking airport biometrics to broader surveillance, as Big Brother Watch and Liberty fear. This echoes the failed 2024 Criminal Justice Bill and risks a “digital police state.”
The UK’s lack of facial recognition laws and mainstream media’s downplaying of privacy issues highlight legislative and transparency gaps. Robust regulation, independent audits, and opt-out rights are urgently needed to counter this biometric overreach, but are woefully, and likely purposefully, absent.
We all need to keep an eye on progress of the above in relation to travel and other areas and ensure that we pushback where we can, making it clear that we will not give up non digital means of identity and travel documents.
This article (Biometric Borders and Digital IDs: Efficiency or Erosion of Freedom?) was created and published by Conscientious Currency and is republished here under “Fair Use”
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