EU to Use Biometric Tracking for Visitors

[Ben]

This popped up on my news feed this morning. I'm surprised it doesn't seem to have been picked up by the MSM. This November, the EU will begin biometric tracking of all non-EU travelers to track movement and time spent in the EU.

https://www.traveloffpath.com/americans-will-have-to-get-fingerprinted-and-registered-traveling-to-europe-from-november/

[MechAg94]

The US has been letting in a lot of less than peaceful people the last few decades and then doing very little to restrict them from doing less than peaceful actions.  Of course, the EU has been doing the same.

[Ben]

The US has been letting in a lot of less than peaceful people the last few decades and then doing very little to restrict them from doing less than peaceful actions.  Of course, the EU has been doing the same.

Of course both the EU and the US seem to want to step up security regarding tourists and vacationers coming in via commercial flights and control zones like airports, while letting their borders go.

[dogmush]

Biometrics instead of passport stamps is getting more common at international borders.  I'm not surprised the EU is doing it, although I am surprised it took this long.  The article says that this system has been delayed for a while, so maybe that's why they are behind the power curve.

I know we use biometrics at airports. My last visit to the UK they were using photos and facial recognition at entry.  Several Asian countries use fingerprints.  I want to say when I flew into UAE and Kuwait commercial both of them had a biometrics system, although I was on an official passport and skipped it.  South Africa had fingerprint scanners when I went this summer, but they weren't using them the day I went through their passport control (FWIW, there were huge signs in the Johannesburg Airport saying SA was upgrading their entire entry control system this winter.  Their version of Real ID, I guess).

Long Story Short: Biometric Passport control is common, and growing more so, the EU getting on board isn't a big deal.