Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport is expanding its biometric screening capabilities, according to an Arutz Sheva 7 article by Tova Dvorin. Having ran a successful pilot project using four biometric eGates, the airport has now added 17 more stations.
Like so many other eGate systems around the world, Ben-Gurion’s was implemented both to improve security and travelers’ convenience. A survey assessing responses to the pilot project found that 86 percent of respondents were happy with shorter wait times it offered, and Immigration Authority CEO Amnon Ben-Ami called it “another step in our project to promote improved service to the public.”
It’s also, in part, a measure to accord with Israel’s Biometric Database Law, which is intended to build a government database of Israeli residents by compelling the collection of fingerprint and face biometric data. It’s similar to India’s Aadhaar program, and in time may evolve to match the ambition of that national ID project in its scope.
In a way, Ben-Gurion Airport is almost playing catch-up, as biometric screening at airports is continuing to gain in popularity around the world as authorities seek ways to improve both security and efficiency; Interior Minister Silvan Shalom said the upgrade “puts us on par with international service providers.”
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May 21, 2015 – by Alex Perala
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