Residents, visitors to have face scans on entry

Residents and visitors to the UAE will have their faces scanned whenever they enter the country under new security measures being implemented to improve public safety.

In what authorities are describing as a world first, face recognition systems are to be installed at all entry points to the country, UAE daily Gulf News reported on Sunday, without saying exactly when the systems will come online.

A facial recognition system verifies a person from a digital image or a video frame by comparing selected facial features from the image with a facial database.

Authorities said the system is able to perform identification checks on from a distance and without a person’s active participation.

The system ensures a person who checks in at an airport is the rightful holder of the passport and a resident returning to the country is the same person who left it, authorities said.