I HAVE Dr Daugman of Cambridge University to thank for being able to bypass queues at Heathrow last week and keep my passport in my bag. It seems he holds the patent for iris recognition, that biometric way of identifying us that means all we have to do is to stare into a mirror and open sesame.
I sorted out the procedure when I was delayed a few weeks ago at Terminal 1 for the flight to Larnaca. It meant finding a small room just past the baggage scanning machines. A bored official was sitting with his feet up on a desk reading his tabloid. I got the feeling that they didn’t get many punters.
Two equally underutilised ladies were discussing their plans for the weekend. Was I the first client of the day? Yes, they laughed. It seems most people still don’t know about IRIS. Iris immigration Recognition System has been used in Amsterdam since 2001 and now it operates at eight terminals in UK. It’s an easy process, they take your passport, they smile at you, they punch mysterious keys into a computer and then they tell you to sit down and line up your eyes with two dots in a mirror. Rather like old-fashioned opticians. Ping, and you’re finished. Seems it makes no difference whether you are wearing glasses or contact lenses. Ha, I say, always wanting to be a smart arse. What if I have an identical twin? The man reading The Sun puts it down, and with a resigned sigh, which makes me realise that everyone asks that question tells me that even people with the same DNA have different iris algorithms.
Yesterday, I tried it out. You have to feel smug watching all the others wearily join the passport control queue, whilst mine stayed in my bag. Following the Egyptian style eye, you arrive at a clear perspex booth. In you go, the door shuts behind you and you look into a mirror lining up two lights against your eyes. A voice tells you to go back a bit, re- manouevre, well I am a learner driver. Then with a snap you are recognised and into fortress UK. Easy peasy; took five seconds.
Now I find out that the system is only being used for what are defined as “low risk” travellers, not sure what that means, but they patently don’t know my drinking habits. But it seems that travelling passportless is merely the start, soon we shall unlock computers, our cars, our houses with merely a glance. But there is always a downside, Gordon Brown is hoping to introduce biometric ID cards from 2009 to combat illegal immigration and terrorism, but how much more information will these e-border cards store. The argument goes, of course, that if you are a good citizen you have nothing to fear from stored information. But the truth is that the British population is already the most watched in the world by CCTV. Given that mobile phones can track your movements, IRIS recognition will simply be another way of having our every move monitored. How long before potential employers, insurance companies, banks use stored info to vet us and label us; from our spending habits, our attendance at the Dog and Duck or local STD clinic.
Does it matter? Well maybe not. But if big brother technology makes it harder to get a bank loan, or a school place for your child, or a health insurance or if we are turned down for a job without adequate explanation we might start to worry. But for now, I know, I’ll just be looking to leave.
