Fingerprints and the new EU Entry Exit system

[Lodestone]

The new EU entry tracking system will apply facial and fingerprint biometrics to visitors from '3rd countries' - and so this applies to UK nationals.

What The House of Lords says:-
https://committees.parliament.uk/co...-in-new-eu-travel-rules-says-lords-committee/

Some detail from a systems supplier:-
The Schengen Entry/Exit System: biometrics to facilitate smart borders

 

[Poignard]

"Procedures for welcoming Third Country Nationals to Europe will be much-improved thanks to eGates and self-service kiosks. "

The Schengen Entry/Exit System: biometrics to facilitate smart borders

I welcome anything that makes it easier for me and my family to travel to EU Member States.

 

[syvictoria]

2nd time lucky?!!!

This is hardly new news. ETIAS was announced in 2016 and your HoL link dates from 22 November 2021.

I suppose if you have something to hide, then the biometrics and ETIAS more generally may be an issue. Otherwise, it's just a mild (and largely one-off, I would imagine) inconvenience. It's all about controlling borders, isn't it?

 

[Lodestone]

Ah the old 'nothing to hide' chestnut.

Well the links may date from 2 months ago but as the full biometrics element was news to me it might be news to other people.

 

[syvictoria]

I too object to handing over my data whenever possible, but unfortunately in this instance, it's unavoidable. The alternative - giving up visiting the EU - is out of the question. Presumably the UK must have been part of early discussions on the matter, and so the gov presumably don't really have much room for complaint, I wouldn't have thought?

 

[syvictoria]

Why the 'Wow' @Capt Popeye ?

 

[dunedin]

Ah the old 'nothing to hide' chestnut.

Well the links may date from 2 months ago but as the full biometrics element was news to me it might be news to other people.

How long ago did the UK introduce biometric passports ?

Also visiting the EU is not compulsory. If not happy, don’t go. But this is what UK voted for in terms of making ourselves ”3rd Country” status

 

[Lodestone]

British passports do not include fingerprints.

The post is not about Brexit. It is simply about allowing people to be properly informed about the requirements placed on them before they travel.

 

[RAI]

The US have been gathering biodegradable data on foreigners entry for years. Europe is copying it. The UK will too.

 

[dunedin]

British passports do not include fingerprints.

The post is not about Brexit. It is simply about allowing people to be properly informed about the requirements placed on them before they travel.

It does include face biometrics - hence the “self service” passport control terminals.
Are finger prints any more sensitive than face biometrics?

 

[Lodestone]

Perhaps the forum will develop this issue through discussion...

 

[Poignard]

How long ago did the UK introduce biometric passports ?

Also visiting the EU is not compulsory. If not happy, don’t go. But this is what UK voted for in terms of making ourselves ”3rd Country” status

Exactly.

 

[syvictoria]

The US have been gathering biodegradable data on foreigners entry for years. Europe is copying it. The UK will too.

It's all about the environment these days!!!

 

[mjcoon]

It does include face biometrics - hence the “self service” passport control terminals.
Are finger prints any more sensitive than face biometrics?

A few years ago I managed to fall over in the cockpit at the end of the holiday and had a few stitches put in my nose at a local hospital on Kefalonia. As a result when I arrived at Gatwick with my face part-covered by bandage I verified with a Border Control flunky that there was no point in my queueing for a “self service” passport control terminal!

 

[Capt Popeye]

Why the 'Wow' @Capt Popeye ?

Hi thefe Mr S , well its surely an improvement of that idiotic Free Range EU policy of old ; its really good to know who's who in arriving at any Country I would have thought

So a WoW was a near as I could get to a Grin (and bear it) ?

 

[Capt Popeye]

A few years ago I managed to fall over in the cockpit at the end of the holiday and had a few stitches put in my nose at a local hospital on Kefalonia. As a result when I arrived at Gatwick with my face part-covered by bandage I verified with a Border Control flunky that there was no point in my queueing for a “self service” passport control terminal!

Surely you best plan was to report at a Desk and ask for Assited passage as injured so incapacitated , through the Terminal ; in no time you would be sat in a Buggy /Wheelchair and hurried through the Terminal

Treated like Nobility

 

[sailingmartin]

I would have thought the biggest risk of the new system is that it will scupper any attempt to expand the list of EU ports of entry to British boats. From going from a position where we could sail to any EU port we fancied we are now likely to be forced to a limited number of ferry ports that will have the right equipment to handle the biometric data. Those travelling by air/ferry will largely be unaffected.

 

[Poignard]

Hi thefe Mr S , well its surely an improvement of that idiotic Free Range EU policy of old ; its really good to know who's who in arriving at any Country I would have thought

So a WoW was a near as I could get to a Grin (and bear it) ?

Well that's this thread doomed to the same fate as it's predecessor.

 

[st599]

The new EU entry tracking system will apply facial and fingerprint biometrics to visitors from '3rd countries' - and so this applies to UK nationals.

You mean like the UK started to do for visa holders in 2009?

I would have thought the biggest risk of the new system is that it will scupper any attempt to expand the list of EU ports of entry to British boats. From going from a position where we could sail to any EU port we fancied we are now likely to be forced to a limited number of ferry ports that will have the right equipment to handle the biometric data. Those travelling by air/ferry will largely be unaffected.

And in the opposite direction when it's implemented in the UK (it's been delayed until 2025). It's already standard when travelling in to the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and a few other places that you get fingerprinted and checked against the biometric ID. I seem to recall Australia and New Zealand even share the data collected at the border with the US.

The UK rules for arriving by boat with non-UK passport holders are already quite broken (you have to ring a phone number to put you through to another phone number and hope someone picks up).

 

[rotrax]

Why the 'Wow' @Capt Popeye ?

Me too.

Why are you reluctant?

It is a modern labour saving device.

When we regularly crossed at Helmstedt into the old DDR our Passports had gone ahead of us and we were scrutinised with high power binoculars, filmed and photagraphed - fairly covertly most times, but not always - and then examined closely again when changing money and buying the insurance in the office suite.

Giving fingerprints once is not much of an imposition after that, is it?