Your Borders Turn Biometric: New Face & Fingerprint Checks Nobody Voted For

 Airports are being rebuilt worldwide around your identity. Face recognition and fingerprint scanners are being introduced in the same of “seamless travel” such as “frictionless boarding”. But this autumn’s rollouts around the globe point to a greater shift towards population control, and build a permanent identity layer arriving without public debate about scope, retention or redress. 

Europe is switching on its Entry/Exit System (EES) today, 12 October, enrolling face and fingerprint recognition for non-EU travellers on first entry and logging all crossings thereafter. The rollout scales up in early 2026 and is already prompting rail terminals, ports and airports to add booths and contingency lines for first-time registrations. 

The UK’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) is now a default pre-clearance for visa-exempt visitors and is checked before you fly. In Asia, Singapore has moved residents to passport-free clearance using facial and iris biometrics at all Changi terminals, and Dubai is upgrading walk-through tunnels with multi-angle face capture to speed up immigration. In the US, CBP facial comparison now covers all arrivals from abroad, with face-based exit in large hubs and extending to land borders too.  

One-by-one, these are operational upgrades to improve the efficiency of travel. Together, though, they reveal a coordinated shift to biometric identity as the spine of modern-day life....<<<Read More>>>...