How to deal with the Heathrow fingerprint system

Privacy International

23/03/2008

BAA, the operators of Heathrow, have decided to illegally fingerprint all domestic travellers. Privacy International has come up with a privacy 'travel guide' to advise you on how to deal with Heathrow's illegal actions.

Let’s look briefly at the legal situation regarding BAA’s intention to fingerprint passengers at Heathrow:

There appears to be no basis in UK law for passenger fingerprinting at Heathrow. BAA is under an obligation to introduce security measures, but those actions must conform to the legal rights of passengers, particularly under the Data Protection Act.
Immediately following the Privacy International complaint on March 9th, the Office of the Information Commissioner contacted BAA demanding evidence that it was acting lawfully. As of March 23rd no such evidence had been provided.
The Home Office has confirmed (see Mail on Sunday article) that the decision to fingerprint passengers was taken independently by BAA and was not required by government. BAA has therefore lied when it asserts on its website: “These security measures are a Government requirement.”
At no time has BAA approached the Information Commissioner to discuss the legality of its action (see the ICO’s response to PI’s Freedom of Information request). This failure of process in our view can only be based on BAA’s arrogance and its ignorance of the law.
In a circumstance such as this, where an intrusive action is taken without legal mandate, the Data Protection law has been breached. BAA is therefore acting unlawfully.
Privacy International supports robust and sensible airport security, however BAA has clearly acted outside the realm of lawfulness or commonsense. Its actions are unnecessary, intrusive and disproportionate.

So, to summarize the situation. A private company introduces an unlawful measure to maximize its profit, fails to follow accepted procedure, lies to you about why it’s taking away your rights and then threatens to bar you from travel if you don’t comply. This, in our view, is grossly unacceptable.

The Office of the Information Commissioner has advised that passengers should have their fingerprints taken “under protest”. Privacy International believes passengers should consider taking three further measures.

Take photographs and demand identification details from of any staff member who takes your fingerprints. It is likely that these people are acting unlawfully, and a record of the incident should be kept and then forwarded to the police and to the Information Commissioner. You are entitled, indeed in many circumstances required, to record details of a crime so that authorities can take action.
Before you leave for the airport, prepare a “subject access request” under the Data Protection Act, requesting all your personal data (including fingerprints) as of the moment of fingerprint capture. Ensure that there is enough identifying information on this request for the airport to know who you are, including flight number, date of travel, and home address. BAA claims to destroy your fingerprint after 24 hours. This process will help determine whether it has fulfilled this commitment.
Until such time as BAA is brought within the rule of law, you should regard the capture of your fingerprints as an unlawful act with potentially serious consequences to your privacy. You have every right in these circumstances to protect the valuable information that your fingerprint represents. Consider using a two-part adhesive on the fingertips of both hands, provided that you are not travelling to Japan or the U.S. where they will subsequently fingerprint you (and will therefore be in breach of foreign law and you have few rights). DO NOT cover your entire fingertips, just dab small amounts to form a unique pattern. This will allow the authorities to see that the same finger has been presented both at check-in and boarding, while also protecting your fingerprint data. If BA or BAA staff ask why you have glue on your fingers, you might want to recall the model plane you were building. Do not tell them you have intentionally glued your fingers.

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