Even the world’s best available training – used to train police, border control agents and other security personnel – does not compensate for natural talent in face recognition.
A security officer checks a traveler’s passport.
AP Photo/Patrick Semansky
In the 20th century, governments considered the “total abolition” of passports as an important goal and discussed the issue in several international conferences.
Applicants queue up for foreign residency permits in Dominican Republic.
EPA
Staff responsible for issuing passports are no better than the average person at identifying if someone is holding a fake passport photo, my colleagues and I report in a study published in PLOS ONE today…
Security authorities face a huge challenge to detect whether documents used by air passengers are genuine.
Diana Parkhouse/Flickr
The search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which disappeared close to a week ago, is yet to find any conclusive trace of the missing aircaft. But the revelation that two Iranian passengers on the flight…
Interpol says one billion passengers travel without proper identity checks.
EPA/Barbara Walton
It has emerged that two of the passengers on the missing flight MH370 were travelling on stolen passports. Initially this was thought to suggest that terrorism might be involved in the disappearance, but…