That was an offer I got on Thursday at Heathrow after I'd cleared security. Apparently as a new security measure they want a photo of me and a copy of my fingerprints as soon as you've left security which they'll check prior to you actually boarding the plane. As you might expect I point blank refused but I got some interesting information from the woman I quizzed.
First she assured me it would be encrypted though she couldn't tell me what sort of encryption was being used or how they were being stored.
All data would be destroyed within 24 hours under the Data Protection Act
No government agency would have access to it.
So based on the information she provided me my next question is why?
According to the lady its to verify that the person who went through security is the one boarding the plane but I'm failing to see what the possible security threat this is preventing.
It's not going to track movement if its destroyed within 24 hours.
I've already been searched so what's the point of my finger prints?
All that comes to mind is that they have a database of fingerprints that they're comparing me against prior to flying, either a no-fly list or some sort of "Wanted" list to stop people escaping the country.
Best news is this will become mandatory for all passengers leaving Terminal 5 and will be rolled out to more terminals in the future if the tests go well.
I think this is nother reason to start taking the train.
On a side note, I don't want my DNA or fingerprints stored by any company or government agency mainly because these are things I leave lying about. I'm impartial to a retina scan as obviously you don't leave one of those on a glass or door handle.
