Guyana to soon implement biometric systems at airports

Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn on Friday during a televised programme announced that Guyana will soon reach the stage where a biometric digital processing policy will become mandatory for passengers at airports across the country.
The biometric system provides true identification, offering absolute accuracy and zero ambiguity.
Its data comprises unique measurements and calculations, resulting from specific technical processing of the physical, physiological, or behavioural characteristics of a person.
Some commonly-used biometric identifiers used in access control are iris recognition, voice recognition, eye-tracking, and fingerprint scans.
The biometric initiative will focus on developing standards for the digital processing of passengers at Guyana’s airports.
This, he added, should be able to reduce congestion during passengers’ screening, and will help the airport to gather travel information in advance for better resource planning and real-time data on passengers within the airports.
While he did not say how soon this system will be implemented, the Minister related that Guyana will soon be among other countries using the modern system.
“We will get to that point just now where even the iris will be scanned beyond fingerprints…”
Currently, Guyana only uses biometrics for voter registration. That fingerprint cross-matching system helps to determine whether duplicate registrations take place.
In 2020, Former President of Guyana David Granger proposed that Guyana’s national identification cards include biometric and security features.
This, he said, will protect the rights of citizenship and will ensure that every Guyanese citizen will be accounted for from birth to death, as far as technologically possible.
He said proof of nationality including a national identification card and passport will then allow citizens to access education and to receive social assistance and public pension.