Photo/Kamran JebreiliIn recent years, airports across the world have accelerated their use of timesaving facial recognition technology to move passengers to their flights. But Dubai's iris scan improves on the more commonplace automated gates seen elsewhere, authorities said, connecting the iris data to the country's facial recognition databases so the passenger needs no identifying documents or boarding pass. But like all facial recognition technology, the program adds to fears of vanishing privacy in the country, which has faced international criticism for targeting journalists and human rights activists. "But in a democratic country, if the surveillance technology is used transparently, at least there's an opportunity to have a public conversation about it." Photo / Kamran JebreiliDespite concerns about overzealous surveillance in the UAE, the country's vast facial recognition network only shows signs of expanding.

Source: New Zealand Herald March 07, 2021 19:52 UTC