Biometrics – the billion pound confidence trick

Mary Wakefield in Saturday’s Independent picks up on the section in Complete and Utter Zebu about the uselessness of the unmanned biometric system controlling entry to the country which is being introduced as part of Britain’s “unbeatable ring of security”.

The “live trial” at Manchester Airport saw so many people queried that the queues became impossible. As a result, the software was “recalibrated”. Rob Jenkins of Glasgow University, an expert on facial recognition, discovered that the recalibrated scanner could not distinguish between Gordon Brown and Mel Gibson or between Osama Bin Laden and Winona Ryder.

Ministers boast about our “unbeatable ring of security”, but wilfully ignore the reality. The system is now being extended to include Heathrow, the busiest airport in the world.