Facial recognition during boarding Will you soon no longer have to show your passport at Swiss airports?
In future, facial recognition is to be used at Swiss airports not only at customs, but also at check-in and boarding. A change in the law should create the legal conditions for this.
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- In future, Swiss airports want to systematically record passengers with cameras and identify them using facial recognition.
- This is according to a media report.
- The method is to be used not only at customs, but also at check-in, baggage check-in and when boarding the aircraft.
A significant change is apparently imminent at Swiss airports: in future, facial recognition is to be used not only at customs control, but also in other areas such as check-in and boarding, reports the magazine "Saldo".
Currently, the use of this technology is voluntary and limited to customs control. Passengers at Zurich Airport can choose whether they want to use the automated process, which requires a biometric passport. The traveler's face is compared with the data stored in the passport.
The legal basis for a broader application of facial recognition is still lacking. However, according to the report, the Federal Administration is working on a revision of the Aviation Act, which should also enable the use of this technology in other airport areas.
Boarding without showing a passport
This would allow airports and airlines to access biometric data, even for airlines from countries with questionable data protection.
A look abroad shows that facial recognition is already being used for Swiss flights at airports such as Frankfurt and Vienna. There, passengers can board the plane via the Star Alliance app without a passport or boarding pass.
Swiss airports are planning to use this technology even more extensively. An email from Zurich Airport to the Federal Office of Civil Aviation, which "Saldo" was able to view, shows that facial recognition is to be used to analyze waiting times and passenger flows.
Use should remain voluntary
Geneva Airport has already procured machines for check-in and security checks that enable facial recognition, but these have not yet been activated.
According to the Swiss Data Protection Act, the use of facial images requires the express consent of the persons concerned. Zurich and Geneva airports emphasize that use should remain voluntary. Nevertheless, there are efforts to allow the processing of biometric data without consent in the new law.
The editor wrote this article with the help of AI.