Facial Recognition at Sydney Airport.

Australian carrier, QANTAS has been trialing a ‘facial recognition’ system. It enables passengers to complete most stages of the boarding process without interaction.

Biometric systems for check-in, bag drop, lounge access and boarding. If successful the system will be used for mobile-check and automated border processing.

CEO of Sydney Airport, Geoff Culbert, stated the trail will hurry of 43 million passengers. The trial is part of QANTAS’s broader investment in technology to improve customer experience.

“In the future, there will be no more juggling passports and bags at check-in and digging through pockets or smartphones to show your boarding pass – your face will be your passport, and your boarding pass at every step of the process,” he said.

In July 2019 the federal Parliament introduced an Identity Matching Services Bill. The bill authorises the Department of Home Affairs to create and maintain facilities for the sharing of facial images. It includes other identity information between government agencies and includes private organisations.

For those that want speed, efficiency, and service this is likely to be a boon. The system adheres strictly to privacy standards alleviating concerns about privacy.

In 2017, the Federal Government has a budget of $22.5m over three years for facial recognition. The majority of the implementation revolves around Sydney Airport.

The government said it would deploy 1-5 new smart gates with more expected to be rolled out in the future. That deal is part of the government’s $123.6 million investment in improving border services.

QANTAS has a trial running currently. It’s for those that want to opt-in.

Odd don’t you think? How do you opt-out of a trial that’s always scanning faces to recognize who you are?

I presume that it will check your face to ‘see’ if you have opted out!!

Very Strange!