Privacy Oriented

By VM Sathish  on 10/28/2008 (for Emirates Business 24/7)

The Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Administration (DNRD) will soon introduce four biometric face recognition surveillance camera units at the Dubai International Airport.

The new biometric system is part of UAE Community Protection Face Recognition System. It can capture the facial images of passengers from the flights and complement the iris scan mechanism currently used to nab illegal entrants and wanted criminals. The face recognition system using biometric system will help protect the UAE borders, critical infrastructure and other key assets in the country, said sources.

A senior DNRD official told Emirates Business that the DNRD is thrilled about the result of recent testing of the face recognition system, which will be introduced in other emirates too. The system was introduced at Abu Dhabi International Airport in July. The plan is to have four face recognition sites at important ports of entry – one each in Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain and Ajman and six in Dubai [four at Dubai International Airport and two outside the airport, five in Abu Dhabi and three in Al Ain].

First Lt Meshal Abdulla Ibrahim Binhussain, Director of Information Security, DNRD, said: “We are going to introduce the latest technology in face recognition. We have achieved outstanding results from testing the system, which comrprises various components – surveillance cameras which will capture facial images of passengers on flight, a sound alarm monitoring system and a database of wanted persons. The facial images of passengers will be relayed on real time basis. It is a non-intrusive system and will be introduced in different parts of Dubai,” he said.

The face recognition system will complement the iris scan currently used to detect wanted and banned people from entering or leaving the country. Later it will be linked to the passport control section of DNRD, he said.

Biometrics is the automatic recognition of a person using distinguishing traits. The face recognition system in Dubai will be part of the broader UAE Community Protection project started by the UAE Ministry of Interior.

The Community Protection Face Recognition System, the first of its kind in the world, has many unique features including machine vision cameras that capture facial images through real time image capture and enhancement technology.

The system uses an advanced detection technology that instantly locates and retains a complete set of key facial characteristics during the enrolment process, which is approved by the International Civil Aviation Organisation. Each face recognition unit will cost around Dh1 million.

“All people have an innate ability to recognise faces. The system will enhance that ability technologically using sophisticated software to scan images of individual faces for analysis and identification. It uses sensitive cameras to capture the faces of people – whether they are up close or at a distance, in motion or standing still,” said an official from Abu Dhabi Police.

“With only a brief look from the individual in the direction of the camera, facial characteristics such as the position, size and shape of the eyes, nose, cheekbones and jaw are recorded and the image is instantly secured. Biometric software allows analysis and evaluation of the image by anyone – technicians do not need sophisticated technology to handle the units.”