How tagging passengers could improve airport security

Alok Jha, science correspondent
Friday October 13, 2006
The Guardian

Air travellers could soon be electronically tagged inside airports 
in a bid to improve security. The technology would use wrist bands 
or boarding passes embedded with computer chips and allow authorities 
to track passenger movement around terminal buildings.

Paul Brennan, an electronic engineer at University College London who
is leading work on the EU-funded Optag system, said it would combine
high resolution panoramic video imaging with radio frequency
identification (RFID) tags to enhance airport security, safety and
efficiency. "It would work if each passenger were issued with a tag,
which could allow location to about one metre accuracy," he said. "The
video and tag data can be merged to give a very powerful surveillance
capability."

RFID tags work by emitting a short radio message when interrogated by
an electronic tag reader. Dr Brennan said that Optag RFID chips would
not store any personal details.

"They emit a unique ID which is then cross-referenced to the passenger
information already on the system - maybe the name and flight number
of the passenger. Perhaps in the future that would be extended to
things like biometric data." The tags would be linked to a network of
CCTV cameras, which could be used to monitor movement of people around
terminal buildings.

[...]

Full article at "Guardian Unlimited"
http://travel.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1921420,00.html

OpTag Consortium: http://www.optag-consortium.com

Cheers, Steve..

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