RFID suggested as solution for airport passenger tracking

Published 16 October 2006

A British research center is testing a method of attaching tracking devices to airline passengers; cards or tags, not implants, envisioned; system would be networked with cameras to provide comprehensive security awareness

Attaching RFID chips to luggage and cargo is one thing. But people? Earlier this year we reported on Cincinnati, Ohio-based CityWatcher, a private video surveillance company that has embedded silicon chips in two of its employees — the first known case in which U.S. workers have been tagged electronically as a way of identifying them. The company said it was testing the technology as a way of controlling access to a room where it holds security video footage for government agencies and the police. This was controversial, but the idea of attaching RFID devices to individuals should not be dismissed out of hand. One useful application would be to track passenger movements at airports, not by implanting the RFID tags but by attaching them in some fashion to a card the travellers would carry until boarding.

A prototype of such an approach is currently being tested at the Debrecen airport in Hungary by a research center based at University College London. “The basic idea is that airports could be fitted with a network of combined panoramic cameras and RFID (radio frequency ID) tag readers, which would monitor the movements of people around the various terminal buildings,” said Dr. Paul Brennan of the so-called OptoTag program. “In our system, the location can be detected to an accuracy of 1m, and video and tag data could be merged to give a powerful surveillance capability.” Needless to say, both political and technological issues — including the problem of passengers switching tags — will have to be resolved prior to widespread implementation.

-read more in Rebecca Morelle’s BBC report