Delta Airlines plans to introduce facial recognition technology at Seattle-Tacoma Airport for international travellers by the end of 2019. Credit: Home Office.

Delta Airlines is set to introduce facial recognition technology at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in the US by the end of this year.

The technology will be implemented for international travellers.

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Seattle Times reported that passengers boarding a flight will be photographed by the airlines and cross-matched with their visa or passport photo in the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) files.

CBP also plans to begin using facial recognition for identification of travellers who arrive at the country via the Seattle-Tacoma Airport international arrivals building, slated to open in July next year.

This initiative is expected to be implemented in every part of the airport that requires international travellers to provide proof of identity.

Additionally, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) reportedly plans to use the programme for domestic passengers.

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Using facial recognition technology, the images of the travellers are checked with the Department of Homeland Security image bank. The images are sent using secure connections and encrypted without offering any information to identify the passengers.

In case of a match with the photo bank, the passenger is permitted to board. If there is no photo available in the bank, the passenger documents are manually checked, the newspaper added.

Many airports and airlines have started using facial recognition technology to identify passengers.

Recently, Iberia started trials of facial recognition-enabled aircraft boarding at Terminal 4 of Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas Airport in Madrid, Spain.

In September, Delta deployed facial recognition technology to accelerate passenger clearance processes at Terminal 2 of Los Angeles International Airport in California, US.

In July, NEC received a contract from Japan Customs under the Ministry of Finance to supply a facial recognition system to six major airports in the country.