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I assumed that every airport does it as a matter of policy. A border guard in the UK told me the reason they don't bother checking your passport when you leave

I assumed that every airport does it as a matter of policy. A border guard in the UK told me the reason they don't bother checking your passport when you leave is because they check your face on camera. In this case it seems like a legitimate use of facial recognition: catching criminals. The story is of interest to me because i've been through the airport many times. I guess they have a picture of me. ot but in many European airports i've been to they have those clunky face scanning machines and after that proper passport controls. I've discovered that in some places i can skip them and get my passport stamped with no issues.

SoftTalker 1y ago
Last time I came into the USA from Europe they never checked my passport. They know who is on each arriving flight and match faces to passport records.
- cj 1y ago
  I thought that’s Global Entry which requires going through an in person interview process and paying an application fee (if I remember correctly)?
  - SoftTalker 1y ago
    I just have a normal US passport.
alexanderchr 1y ago
Border guard was wrong. UK used passenger records from transport companies to determine when someone left the country, not face recognition. They do however use face recognition when you take a domestic flight from an international terminal. Then they take a photo of you just before security and compare that when you board. To me this seems like an overly complex solution to a problem that would normally by solved by having a domestic section of the terminal, but I’m sure they had their reasons.
- netsharc 1y ago
  And this week it's lead to people's child benefits being stopped because they were deemed to have left the country and not returned, because their names were on passenger manifests: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/oct/31/woman-flight-italy-did-not-board-child-benefits-stopped https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/oct/31/woman-flight... God, a well functioning democractic society, the UK is not...

SoftTalker 1y ago

Last time I came into the USA from Europe they never checked my passport. They know who is on each arriving flight and match faces to passport records.

cj 1y ago
I thought that’s Global Entry which requires going through an in person interview process and paying an application fee (if I remember correctly)?
- SoftTalker 1y ago
  I just have a normal US passport.

alexanderchr 1y ago

Border guard was wrong. UK used passenger records from transport companies to determine when someone left the country, not face recognition. They do however use face recognition when you take a domestic flight from an international terminal. Then they take a photo of you just before security and compare that when you board. To me this seems like an overly complex solution to a problem that would normally by solved by having a domestic section of the terminal, but I’m sure they had their reasons.

netsharc 1y ago
And this week it's lead to people's child benefits being stopped because they were deemed to have left the country and not returned, because their names were on passenger manifests: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/oct/31/woman-flight-italy-did-not-board-child-benefits-stopped https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/oct/31/woman-flight... God, a well functioning democractic society, the UK is not...