§ Mr. Bob Dunnasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in experiments with computer terminals for machine readable passports.
§ Mr. WhitelawA limited experiment using a prototype computer terminal for use in conjunction with machine readable passports and linked to a local microcomputer will begin at Heathrow airport on 2 February.
A machine readable passport is one containing a machine readable element to an internationally agreed format consisting of two lines of printing which is both machine readable and legible to the holder with the naked eye. The machine readable element consists of such details as name, date of birth, nationality and passport number which are entered in written form on conventional passports. Machine readable passports are already being issued to United States citizens and some other countries are making plans to do so. The Government's intention to 457W introduce a similar British passport was announced on 27 March 1981.—[c. 454.] In the longer term the worldwide adoption of machine readable passports will offer significant advantages to both passengers and immigration authorities by speeding the clearance of bona fide passengers here and abroad while helping to identify at ports those persons who ought not to be admitted. The machine readable passport also offers greater security, since it is difficult to counterfeit or tamper with.
The experiment at Heathrow airport will initially involve the reading of machine readable passports carried by United States citizens and checking their names against a warning list held on a local microcomputer. This list is currently held in book form and the experiment will thus test the automation of a process which is now carried out manually. The equipment will be entirely self-contained at Heathrow and will not be connected to any other computer system.
We believe that the United Kingdom is the first country to operate a machine readable passport terminal at a port. The equipment which will be used has been provided by a British manufacturer and the Department of Industry has provided funding.
The full introduction of machine readable passports is still some years away and there are as yet no definite plans for other than experimental use of the computer terminals.