UK Passport Offices Rules that No More Smiling Permitted

05/08/2004

"As part of the ongoing fight against fraud and international terrorism" the UK Passport office announces new standards for photographs for passports, including that Britons can no longer smile. This is in order to promote the failed technology of facial recognition.

According to a statement to BBC Online, a Home Office Spokesman says that

"When the mouth is open it can make it difficult for facial recognition technology to work effectively."

A statement in the Evening Standard says that

"It's about having a closed mouth. An openmouthed smile will throw the scanner off."

" These new guidelines are an important step in the development of the new biometric ePassport and use of facial-recognition technology that will be used in 2005 as part of the ongoing fight against fraud and international terrorism."

Unfortunately, this technology does not work.

If it won't work due to a smile, how is it supposed to work at border entry point -- where smiling is presumably to be banned as well?

Previous findings released by the US Government reports have concluded that the technology is highly unreliable, with a false match rate of 5% and a false match rate of 1%; with these error rates increasing significantly after two years due to the phenomenon of ageing.

Meanwhile this technology can be used for wide surveillance, and may be used to reveal racial or ethnic origin, despite the increased likelihood of errors.

The Telegraph coverage of the issue is remarkable, partly due to its title: "Look miserable to help the war on terrorism", but also due to this finding

A survey of 5,000 Europeans last year suggested the British were among the most embarrassed by passport photos. It found that a fifth of Britons were so uncomfortable with their images that they hid them from their families.

These photos will now be part of global databases every time you travel.

Related:
UK ID Cards Home Page
Border and Travel Surveillance Home Page