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Save/ShareLike a scene out of a sci-fi movie, Heathrow airport in London is requiring some connecting passengers to undergo iris scans and get a thumbprint scan taken. Currently, you'll only be required to do this if you land at Heathrow's Terminal 1 and try to connect to a domestic British flight there. The info is in addition to the photo ID and boarding pass normally required at the boarding gate, according to the Associated Press. British Airways may make this standard security practice for passengers when it opens Terminal Five in March.
Here's how it works, according to news reports: You enter a booth and a laser quickly scans your eye's iris, as if it were a bar code on a product. As you move about the airport terminal, you can pass back into a secure area, having your eyes rescanned to prove you're the person you say you are. The information is stored for about 24 hours and not filed away, officials say.
UPDATE 1/6/08 at 3:33 ET Fingerprint scans are being introduced in Scandinavia. Specifically, SAS (Scandinavian Airlines Sweden) now allows travelers with luggage to board domestic flights by providing a scan of their index fingerprint, according to Spiegel Online, via Vagablogging.net.
EARLIER Continental Airlines may allow cell phones to replace paper boarding passes.
PHOTO courtesy of ArtLung via Flickr
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I didn't want to go back to London anyway!
Posted By Jack on February 7, 2008, 1:07 PM
I travel quite a bit and I think that it is a great idea for not only ones personal safety but it will certainly speed the security checking when going from one terminal to another also. This is really about safety not about the whinning, spoiled American travelling public. I am an American and have served my country in war but do get embarrassed at times by fellow Americans. I think that it is a great idea.
Posted By Rick on February 7, 2008, 9:46 PM
911 has permanently changed the nature of security for all. As an honorably discharged US Army veteran I would have no issue with having my iris scanned, whether the data is stored or not.
My military ID served to identify me throughout the world, not just the USA. Let those with evil intent whine about lost civil liberties and slink away from the scanners, I hide my true identity from nothing and no one.
Posted By Nina J. Morales on February 7, 2008, 9:47 PM
Will these type of scanners worsen my Cataracts?
Posted By Stacye on February 8, 2008, 5:42 AM
Hello
That’s a good question, about whether the laser scans can do any damage to the eye.
I don’t know the answer.
Regards,
Sean
Blog editor
Posted By Blog Editor on February 8, 2008, 10:26 AM
I'm 60 & travel as much as I can. They can scan me & my luggage as much as they like. The safer I am the more trips I can take. I carry nothing they can't inspect.
Posted By Rosalie Greer on April 27, 2008, 2:54 AM
What happens if the machine fails?
Anyone who's written a computer program, engineered a robot, or tweaked machine knows this.
Don't be dense, US Military folks.
Consider this: you are traveling with only your young 2-year old, and your 2-year old needs to go to the potty, which means temporarily leaving the secured area. Upon trying to re-enter, your 2-year old checks-in just fine, but you don't match the system. So, what next........?
Think it won't happen to you, think again.
Posted By Noni on May 18, 2008, 9:01 PM