AUSTRALIAN AIRPORTS TO UNDERGO A SWEEPING SECURITY OVERHAUL
The ever advancing technology might not have made 2017 a year of flying cars or remote-operated dog moving about the streets; but with a radical overhaul of security announced by the Australian Government, technology shall soon substitute the need of passports as the important source of identification.
What is this ‘Seamless-Traveler’ all about?
Aimed to eliminate the manual processing and paperwork by 90%, this new security revamping would prove extremely beneficial for the air-passengers. The ‘Seamless-Traveler’ system is said to replace passports with iris structure, fingerprints or facial structure. Claiming it to be the world’s first ever security overhaul, Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s head of border security- John Coyne feels ecstatic about the exponential increase in their ability to tackle big data. Steered with the motivation to rationalize the process of passenger arrival, this soon-to-be-initiated biometric technology would allow the international passengers to walk out of the airports without having to produce their passports alike in the domestic airport.
What can you expect from the newly-suggested system?
The Department of Border and Protection is on the lookout for the possible self-processing systems, which would efficiently replace all the manned stations and processes done manually. With the ‘Seamless-traveler’ system of fingerprints and facial recognition being brought into action by the year of 2020, the present system of SmartGates that was designed to scan passports electronically would soon be invalid. An upgrade of about $78, this new security system is believed to beef up the national border security besides making the threat detection easy, according to Peter Dutton (Australia’s Immigration Minister). Dutton further banks upon the idea of boosting Australian tourism through this procedure.
What are the early versions of the system expected to witness?
A small part of a long-ranging vision by the immigration officers who wishes to abolish all the use of paperwork, this system urges companies to bring forward their technology and innovations to transform this dream into sheer reality. John Coyne, heading the Australian Border Security, feels the early stages of the system might require the passengers to move through a corridor instead of the individual gates allowing their biometrics to be reviewed and captured. Slacking down on hassles about air travels, the system will put the concentration on reviewing the high-risk passengers at the center-stage.
Come July 2017, and the system is likely to be experimented at the Canberra airport before being initiated at the prime airports in the coming November.
