OmniPerception's News & Events

Opinion: Face recognition technology could improve cargo security at airports

04 April 2011

Biometrics could help reduce fears over the safety and security of cargo at airports, the CEO of OmniPerception said this week.

Face recognition technology is currently being used to verify the identity of passengers and staff boarding aircrafts and has the potential to significantly increase cargo security said Stewart Hefferman.

The technology is ideal in an airport security context as it can control which passengers and air crew pass through security gates by scanning a person’s face and verifying their identity in seconds. Other biometric technology such as fingerprint and iris has also been used in an airport security context.

This success could be replicated in an air cargo security context with staff and visitors having to enrol their faces in the system and passing stringent checks before they are allowed entry to secure areas he explained.

UK-based face recognition experts OmniPerception have an established track record for deploying its world-leading technology in this context. One of the strengths of its solution is that it provides a turnstile type system which prevents a person entering a secure area until their identity has been verified. If their identify fails to be verified they are prevented from entering the secure area.

Mr Hefferman believes that face recognition technology has an important role to play in helping cargo carriers to tighten up on security within their facilities.

The UK and US Governments are currently reviewing air freight security following the recent discovery of explosives disguised as toner cartridges on cargo planes bound for the US from Britain and Dubai.

The shocking discovery in November last year brought into focus the need to step up the security of international air freight.

While security of passenger planes has arguably never been as comprehensive and stringent – cargo planes are still vulnerable to attack for a number of reasons.

These include the fact that security protocols vary from around the world with enforcement at some airports thought to be seriously lacking. Experts say that X-ray machines are often not effective tools to screen bulk cargo.

This has sparked concern about potential future terror attacks at a time when 40 per cent of the UK’s air freight is transported on cargo planes.

Safety measures being discussed by the government include better training provided to airport security staff on how to identify suspicious packages, the suspension of unaccompanied freight to the UK and the suspension of toner cartridges larger than 500g in passengers’ hand baggage on flights departing from UK airports.

“The current review of air freight security provides us with the enormous potential to effectively deploy face recognition technology to restrict access to some of the more sensitive areas of an airport,” he said.

“While I’m not saying that technology is a panacea and, nor is it the whole solution, I believe that if deployed intelligently and appropriately, it could make a huge difference to helping to improve air cargo security and the overall safety of our airports.”

OmniPerception is particularly renowned for its commitment to research and development and has proved that its technology is highly accurate in verifying the identity of a person’s face in a matter of seconds – a vital element to ensure the smooth running of air cargo areas.

It is also committed to working with individual clients to adapt its technology for particular bespoke applications. For more information on OmniPerception go to: www.omniperception.com