Plane travellers back fingerprint, eye scan checks

[Mal]

Plane travellers back fingerprint, eye scan checks - Queensland - BrisbaneTimes

Registered flight passenger cards with in-built fingerprint or iris scan technology could be introduced nationwide following a review of Australia's National Aviation Policy.

Unisys Asia-Pacific spokeswoman Jane Evans said registered traveller cards would eliminate security breaches similar to those which forced two mass evacuations of Brisbane's domestic airport in less than a week.

Ms Evans said biometric technology, already incorporated into passport photographs to identify flight passengers based upon fixed facial measurements, was currently in use at airports in the United States.

Registered traveller cards, called rtGO cards, permit frequent flyers to obtain a biometric credential, Ms Evans said, meaning a passenger's basic identification information - including scans of their fingerprint and iris - are digitally recorded on the rtGO card.

"Passengers are then able to navigate airport security checkpoints more efficiently without compromising security standards," Ms Evans said.

...

Ms Evans said she believed Australian airline passengers would also be in favour of such a card.

A survey by Unisys late last year found about 98 per cent of respondents believed more needed to be done to make domestic air travel safer. In addition, 71 per cent would be prepared to provide airlines with a fingerprint or other biometric information.

More than half of the Australian population would also be prepared to pay a higher ticket price if it was required to finance tangible security enhancements on domestic travel, the survey found.

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Unisys, please fob off and hawk your card in the US where it is more accepted. Australia doesn't need biometrics for domestic travel as you imply we do, nor do we need to go down the path of registered travel.

It won't prevent similar occurrences to the Brisbane incidents recently, nor will it make travel safer