Brazilian Authorities Trial Biometric Boarding at Salvador Airport

Government authorities in Brazil have begun trialing biometric boarding technology at the Salvador International Airport in the country’s Northeast Region.

Dubbed “Embarque + Seguro”, the solution revolves around the use of face biometrics. Upon arriving at the airport, travelers who volunteer for the program will undergo a biometric scan that matches their face against government databases. From there, participants can proceed to board their plane without the need to present any physical documents.

Faces are matched against both voter databases and registered driver databases, with the former containing records of 120 million voters and the latter containing the records of 67 million individuals.

The biometric system was developed by Serpro, a government-owned IT services firm also known as the “Federal Data Processing Service” (“Serviço Federal de Processamento de Dados”), in collaboration with Brazil’s Ministry of Infrastructure. It is being trailed in collaboartion with the airline GOL.

Amadeus, which recently revealed its important contributions to the Star Alliance Biometrics program, is also involved in the project in a supporting IT role, as are Rockwell Collins and Gunnebo.

The trial program is part of a broader, global trend in which biometric boarding is increasingly implemented alongside face-based biometric security screening.

It also further illustrates the Brazilian government’s growing interest in biometric technologies, after last month’s news that authorities would be piloting the use of facial recognition to authenticate pensioners in the distribution of pension payments.

Source: CAPA

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December 16, 2020 – by Alex Perala