CWT - International

International

No fingerprinting at Heathrow—for now
In late March, the United Kingdom's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) delayed plans to begin fingerprinting passengers traveling through London Heathrow's newly opened Terminal 5. The ICO claims fingerprinting is a breach of the UK's Data Protection Act. However, Heathrow operator, British Airport Authority (BAA), has said fingerprinting is needed to differentiate international travelers from domestic travelers.

The goal of the fingerprinting efforts is to allow domestic and international travelers to "mingle" throughout the new terminal's departure lounge while still protecting the UK's national security. The concern is that mingling opens up the opportunity for an international traveler to switch boarding passes with someone traveling domestically within the UK, thus gaining entry into the country without having to go through immigration.

Though BAA plans to encrypt the fingerprint data and destroy it within 24 hours, the ICO is advocating for the use of photographs, a less intrusive identification method.

Sources: BBC News, The Telegraph (UK)