New innovations in technology have given birth to huge opportunities for different businesses to bring something new into the market with the perspective of benefitting the human race. The aviation industry is quite aware of this practice. That is the reason that many airports across the world have started to refine their customer identification process. The traditional way of authenticating an onboarding or offboarding customer at the port has become the practice of past days when an entity used to ask the essential questions checked the luggage of the passenger and gave the status of verification accordingly. Now, airports are changing their methods. They are turning to more sophisticated techniques to avoid the dodge of fraudsters that is common in manual verification.

How Facial Recognition Works?

For the purpose of verification using biometric technology, the customer is asked to take a photo in front of the camera installed at airports. Then, documents are taken by the airport authorities to cross-match them for authentication of the fact that they belong to the entity that claims to hold ownership of those documents. The facial scan is kept in the airport database for future reference. This practice helps the airports identify if the same entity is subjected to any criminal activity in the future.  The algorithms integrated into the system with the help of AI, provide insights about the verification accurately. Thus, if an entity is involved in any criminal activity, the AI-supported system will provide information according to that criminal status. 

Uses of Facial Verification Solution at Airports

• ID Authentication

Facial verification through biometric technology helps the airport authorities to look for criminals who might try to cross the border of the country to save themselves from punishment. It also helps the airports to thoroughly verify the people who are entering the region by an international flight. Again face scan assists to recognize entities that should be forbidden to cross the boundary because they may be involved in terrorist activities which can be found through facial verification.

• Reducing Luggage Theft

Complaints about missing luggage or stolen valuables are a common problem encountered at airports. A  study conducted in 2010-2014 by CNN states that more than 30,000 claims are received at airports stating the loss of baggage. However, it is true that theft can not be eliminated completely but here face recognition technology would play a vital part. It is helpful to integrate scanning at airports because it would quickly detect a thief if entered the luggage area. Facial recognition can help airports catch criminals at a faster pace than as compared to the previous conventional techniques of manual checking. 

• Face Verification with Mobile App

Sometimes, at the airports, the police do random security checks of cars and other vehicles that enter the area. They do confirm with dual authentication that is, checking the entity’s vehicle manually as well. But in addition to that, the police take pictures of the entity from a safe distance and use a facial scanning process to identify if the entity sitting inside the vehicle is a criminal or a wanted entity on the watch list. The use of a mobile app for facial verification makes it more convenient and quick for the cops to perform their duty vigilantly. Thus, it can be said that technology is not harmful if used wisely for good cause. It can accelerate the process of crime reduction and enhance safety to a considerable level.

• Reduce Insider Threats

Facial recognition not only offers the advantage of gaining information about an entity but also helps in navigation. Through facial recognition, airports can reduce internal threats such as employees stealing passenger luggage, etc. With the help of facial recognition software, the airport authority is able to identify if an employee goes to a suspicious place and is found to be not on duty during official hours. So, facial recognition not only holds the external parties accountable but also helps the airports to fortify internal security.  

Final Thoughts

Acknowledging the uncontrollable aspects of the real world, it is impossible for anyone to remember each and every face and name of an entity in case needed. Thus, many IDV solution providers came up with the idea of a face verification system supported by artificial intelligence. Because it is not possible to recall, how many passengers are onboarded or offboarded, which passengers may be wanted by the FBI, or how many of them have a history of criminal activities?. Facial recognition has helped the aviation industry to mitigate the risks attached to these sensitive security concerns. The facial verification process has resultantly minimized the risk of fraud and crimes that may have occurred otherwise as shown in a report that states a 91% decrease in violent crimes with the help of face recognition technology.