Biometric Chip, Iris Scan Proposed For Airport 'Checkpoint Of The Future'
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — If overly-intrusive airport screening procedures have grounded your flight plans for the foreseeable future, a high-tech firm's plans for a new approach to security may soon get you up in the air again.
The International Air Transport Association has unveiled a prototype for what they say will be the "checkpoint of the future": a procedure based on a risk-assessment biometric chip on the passenger's passport or other travel document.
KNX 1070's Charles Feldman reports the plans could ultimately replace current airport security procedures.
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"The idea here is you would combine things like an eye scan that would match some info on a computer chip that might be on your passport - or maybe even your driver's license - that would identify some people as 'low-risk' and some people as 'high-risk'," said Feldman.
Passengers at U.S. airports are currently subjected to a whole host of what some call invasive screening procedures in the years following the Sept. 11, 2001 airliner attacks on the World Trade Center, including the removal of shoes, jacket and belt, and a potential pat-down or naked-body scan.
But IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani said the proposed 20-foot long checkpoint would allow passengers "to get from the curb to the boarding gate with dignity".
The checkpoint is being touted as an efficient way to standardize airport security across the U.S. and internationally, while a video simulation of the checkpoint claims the procedure will result in "happier passengers".
Officials with IATA estimate the new checkpoints will start being implemented within 5 years as across-the-board acceptance of the system continues to spread.
