Gatwick Airport now taking your photo

[lang rabbie]

Originally, I thought it was only at the one terminal at Gatwick where domestic arrivals come through, remembering seeing this article...

Gatwick photograph domestic passengers

Are you planning to take a flight from a British airport to Gatwick? If so, be prepared for a new 'security check'.

Passengers arriving on domestic flights to Gatwick are being asked by BAA to stand in line and be photographed with a digital camera. The digital photos are added to a database and the passenger is given a slip with a barcode. When the passenger has collected his or her luggage and is leaving the airport, s/he is asked to hand the slip to staff who can then verify the passenger's face against the filed photograph. This system originally applied only to flights arriving from Northern Ireland but it has been extended to all routes.

Many passengers have contacted Liberty asking why this scheme is in place, what purpose it serves, and whether the photographs are being removed from the database once they leave the airport. We are seeking answers to these questions from the airlines and the Information Commissioner

This is at least now mentioned on

BAA's Gatwick Airport website

Edited to add: But thinking again, I reckon this is a separate issue.

I think that the photos on departure are at both terminals. The last time I was photographed was a cheap charter flight to Egypt, which gives me two working hypotheses.

(i) whether you get photo'd depends on whether your flight is scheduled to use one of the gates that still rely on buses to get you to your plane - where you could in theory get out and interfere with a plane - do they have face reconition software on the CCTV covering the whole site ;or

(ii) whether you get photo'd depends on whether you are going to a "high risk" destination.

 

[Yossarian]

I've used Gatwick five or six times over the last couple of years and never had my photo taken - I'll work on my funny faces before I use that airport again!

 

[Mation]

I went to the US from Gatwick in January. No picture taken. Didn't see anyone else having theirs done either.

 

[moose]

Manchester take your photo whilst you're checking in. You can keep your shoes on, though.

 

[Donna Ferentes]

At Zaragoza you have to take your belt off.

 

[Abyss]

haha, yes when leaving Sydney last year i had a man swab the palms of my hands with some ion detector, i was laughin at this and he was having a chuckle to,,apparently to detect bomb particles etc, but i had been to a firing range the same day, so i told him that and he wasnt bothered..i didnt get arrested, though i did see a trend of non-whites get accosted...