BootsnAll Travel Community

So, this weekend while in London (drinking in public parks, avoiding the Tour de France, etc.) on my return via Heathrow I enrolled in the IRIS (Iris Recognition Immigration System) program airside at Terminal 2. It was quick, taking only 3 minutes. They flipped through my passport to see if I met the eligibility test (resident or frequent visitor) and then sat me down in front of this machine which reminds one of a visit to the eye doctor. The immigration lady operating the contraption had me move my head backwards and forwards a bit to get these green dots on my eyes and presto! Now The Ministry of Truth Home Office now has a copy of my iris pattern in a database.

Next time I fly through Heathrow (or a couple of other airports--Gatwick, Stanstead or Manchester) I can skip the hour long queue and occasionally stroppy immigration officials. Now I can stand in a short queue and wrestle with an immature technology. (There are lots of reports about how poorly the system works in the media and blogosphere)

I'm generally uncomfortable with this kind of stuff. Orwellian concepts of Big Brother are inherent with a system like IRIS. But I also have a sever allergic reaction to queuing for more than 30 seconds. So, here I am submitting to “the system”.

(And since I like polls, let's take a vote!)

Question:
Would you voluntarily enrol in an IRIS-like program to ease your travel experience?

Choices:
Never! ("FREEDOM IS SLAVERY")
Yes! ("IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH")
Only if they force me ("WAR IS PEACE")

 

I can understand your discomfort but as someone who worked just a few minutes walk away from one of the 7th July attack sites, I would prefer a simple inconvenience like this if it is going to help protect us. Simply because I can't really see why it matters as I'm not a criminal, what do I care?

More concerning is that the American (and no doubt other) governments keep personal stuff on file. For example if you fly in/ out of the USA they keep a record of all your preferences, such as your food requirements. Personally I find that more sinister than a fingerprint or IRIS (at the end of the day an IRIS print is just a modern way of taking your fingerprint).

I guess there is always the potential for these things and CCTV to be misused though ...

Fancy seeing you on that side of the fence, Stoo

I know what you mean. Part of me doesn't care, because my passport has been scanned hundreds of times over the years and the German government probably has a big file on me. Another part does care, because these things tend to throw up problems for innocent people once they become obligatory.

quote:

Originally posted by welshcake:
I can understand your discomfort but as someone who worked just a few minutes walk away from one of the 7th July attack sites, I would prefer a simple inconvenience like this if it is going to help protect us. Simply because I can't really see why it matters as I'm not a criminal, what do I care?

welshcake, you might want to reread my post and check out the Home Office link. IRIS is about convenience.

I too worked near a 7/7 bombing site, but I fail to see the connection. (In many ways, 7/7 hit closer to home for me than 9/11.) Remember that those bombers were 'home grown' and legally in the country. The recent attempts were by folks legitimately in the UK too.

In fact it is arguably the case that the IRIS system is a mild weakening of security as program participants do not have to interact with any immigration officials when entering the country.

quote:

I guess there is always the potential for these things and CCTV to be misused though ...

And that is what I worry about. Will some day in the near future the technology exist to track my movements through out London? (With all those CCTV cameras everywhere.) Will some day someone discover that your eyes change color slightly after doing drugs? And this becomes probable cause for the rubber glove treatment?

I do share your concern about data retention and access issues in America, but the UK is no data privacy paradise. Beyond the fact that Brits are the most heavily monitored CCTV monitored people in the world, you've also got that pesky, technically troubled NHS centralized database effort and the seemingly inevitable national ID card requirement.

quote:

Fancy seeing you on that side of the fence, Stoo Wink

Yea, I find it interesting myself. Primal, emotional reactions to long queues won out over academic concerns of biometric technologies.

As a taxpayer, credit card holder, or otherwise middle class westerner who travels, I can assure you that if your government (or a western government just like it) was out to get you, well, they'd get you. They won't need a copy of your iris. All they need to do is call Experian.

Fortunately, MI6 and The League of Shadows finds the majority of us fairly boring.

As for CCTV cameras, I'd be far more worried about the next version of Google Maps. Especially you, Samantha.

Yes, very good point. I'd rather they nab all those nasty bombers, than worry about any possibility of 1984 coming true any time soon. The former just seems more of an immediate threat in London right now.

Unfortunately or fortunately it is the way that international travel is going nowadays. Here in Hong Kong to obtain the fast track Id cards we need to submit ourselves to finger/thumb printing. I believe to obtain a new British Passport you have to have an interview and provide an IRIS scan. The US are fingerprinting selected people when they enter their borders.

So whether you like it or not you either submit to these government tactics or avoid travelling to an increasing number of destinations.

Personally the government has so much data on me already (credit card details, NHS records, entry/exit records, internet postings, etc) that one more piece really doesn't make a difference. My bigger concern what does the Government do with that data (use it for internal security rather than social engineering) and how they protect it from other parties (advertisers, corporations, fraudsters, etc)

Its an impossible debate...is all this monitoring for our safety - which is how it all started in "1984"? It all starts with a few CCTV cameras and IRIS scans. And people say that's ok - it makes me 'safer', then to make things a little bit safer 'they' add a few more cameras and a few more...pretty soon they are saying, well maybe you should let us know where you are always going to be - and since you don't want to always be clocking in and out - how about we just put a camera in your house and check you out once in a while and another one at work - and we'll also track your car and just call it a congestion charge (strange how they know immediately when your car crosses that zone) - "I promise its all just to make you safer" Because the bad guys can never find a way to get around the government...and its the good people that suffer for it.

So that is my view - but in the end I will probably do the IRIS thing because I will be traveling a lot and HATE queues...I'll just hope Big Brother doesn't fully develop until after I die!

quote:

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

So, I had my first trip to London after selling my iris pattern to the Home Office. Cost? Only time will tell. Benefit? I made it from deboarding the aircraft to exiting customs in a mere 15 minutes. The immigration queue area was about half full at Terminal 2, which I gauge to be a 20-minute wait. I've got status with Swiss, so I get those little priority tags on my baggage that get's onto the belt ASAP. But this is LHR! Absolutely unbelievable and definitely record time for me...about the same as my average at LCY.

So, this is what it must feel like to be an environmentalist with a 2-stroke gas leaf blower in the fall...it know it is wrong, but if feels good...

I was a bit nervous going through the little machine. It was my first time, and since signing up and getting my eyes and passport scanned, I have had both LASEK and a new passport. Yet, the only technical problem I had was looking into the wrong device. (The attendant had to tell me what to do.)