BAA Suspends Fingerprint plan
Airport operator BAA has dropped plans to take fingerprints from all domestic passengers using Terminal 5 when it opens tomorrow.
It had planned to take fingerprints and digital photos of all domestic passengers using the flagship new terminal from the day it opened.
But the data watchdog the Information Commissioner wrote to BAA about a week ago asking for assurances that the system does not breach data protection laws.
BAA has yet to respond but said today that it would suspend fingerprinting at Terminal 5 until it could be sure the Commissioner was happy with the system.
It will also suspend fingerprinting for domestic passengers at Terminal 1, where it has been in operation since February.
BAA wanted to introduce fingerprinting because domestic and international passengers use the same area in Terminal 5, as they do at Terminal 1.
The plan was designed to stop someone entering the UK on an international flight, and then exchanging boarding cards with a colleague in the departure lounge to take a domestic flight, allowing them to enter the UK illegally. BAA also argued it would let domestic passengers use all the shops and facilities in Terminal 5.
A spokesman said taking digital photos of domestic passengers would provide sufficient security, but it had wanted to use fingerprinting to tighten the system further.
“We are going to suspend the use of fingerprints and will just use the photographic options,� he said.
“Over the coming days we will speak to the Information Commissioner and the Home Office to see what we can do and make sure everyone is happy.�
David Speakman, chairman of Travel Counsellors, who feared fingerprinting would add to queues at Heathrow, said: “This is typical Heathrow, where it’s all about their structure rather than the customer being satisfied and until they get that they will never understand what they are doing wrong.
“Fingerprinting was a sop to all those people who have bought shops. What the customer does not want is to be fingerprinted just in case he wants to shop. It’s not the security issue, it’s that they don’t want to queue. If they just want to get on a plane they should be allowed to.”
Speakman added that if the fingerprinting plan was revived it could prove a boom to BA’s rival regional carriers such as BMI, as customers look to avoid taking domestic flights from Terminal 5 altogether.
Tags: Australian Travel News
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