China has just got its first airport facial recognition system, reports Shanghai Daily.

The system was developed by domestic company Shanghai Doudian Technologies, in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Security’s Third Research Institute. The system takes travelers’ photos at security checkpoints within the airport, linking their faces to their boarding passes. When passengers then board their planes, a final biometric scan compares their faces against the previously collected information, acting as an additional security check. Continue reading →

Interior Minister Arye Dery announced on Thursday that starting next year, joining the biometric database will be obligatory.
“From now on anyone obtaining a document from the Interior Ministry, whether an ID card or a passport, will receive a biometric one. We’ve decided on having this database and we’ll soon decide what will be included in it,” Dery said at a ceremony marking the millionth person to join the biometric database, which was held at the new Population and Immigration Authority office in south Tel Aviv.  Continue reading →

NEC Corporation is testing out a biometric payment solution at its main office building in Tokyo.

It’s based on facial recognition, linking individuals’ faces to their payment information. In a trial project that started at the end of last month and is expected to run until the end of August, NEC employees are paying via face scan at small shops in the building of its head office in the city. Continue reading →