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All travelers to the UK will need pre-authorization by 2025

cnbc.com

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Re: All travelers to the UK will need pre-authorization by 2025

#21

Post by dogma1138 »

toxicFork wrote: post #5
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #4

>It is understood the U.K. has ambitions to eventually require all travelers to submit fingerprint biometrics ahead of travel and is working on a scheme that would see this submitted by smartphone. Wait, can they even do that? Can the government make an app that can beam the fingerprints read from the fingerprint sensor phone back to them? AFAIK the biometric data is stored in the phone's secure enclave and can never…

Technically very easy. Legally? I dunno, maybe?

Legally very easy, technically not so much.

The EU requires you to attend a meeting to submit biometric data when you initially register.

Re: All travelers to the UK will need pre-authorization by 2025

#22

Post by akmarinov »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #8
toxicFork wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Technically very easy. Legally? I dunno, maybe?

Easy how? AFAIK there's no API to read the biometric data from the secure enclave. The secure enclave will only validate if what the fingerprint sensor reads matches what it has stored internally for authentication.

Additionally they don’t store the actual fingerprint pattern, they do a hash off of the subepidermal layers of your skin.

You can’t compare that to inked fingerprints.

Re: All travelers to the UK will need pre-authorization by 2025

#23

Post by 101008 »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #4

>It is understood the U.K. has ambitions to eventually require all travelers to submit fingerprint biometrics ahead of travel and is working on a scheme that would see this submitted by smartphone. Wait, can they even do that? Can the government make an app that can beam the fingerprints read from the fingerprint sensor phone back to them? AFAIK the biometric data is stored in the phone's secure enclave and can never…

So if you don't own a smartphone to send the biometrics ahead of travel you can't go to the UK?

Re: All travelers to the UK will need pre-authorization by 2025

#25

Post by dazc »

madeofpalk wrote: post #19
mellosouls wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the article: The government says the ETA scheme will strengthen border security...[clip]...under current rules it does not have wholly accurate data on the number of people entering and leaving the country.

I'm confused how they don't have the accurate numbers. To enter the UK you need to go through Border Patrol, either via a automated gate (where they can count you) or via a person at a booth (where they can count you). If you can't get accurate numbers from that, how would an online form change that?

There are lots of small airports where there are Border Patrol staff but I don't think they are counting people in and out as part of any organised and uniform system?

Take, for example, recent industrial action where striking staff were replaced with armed forces. Apparently, the system ran incredibly smoothly but I don't doubt a lot of the everyday bureaucracy was overlooked at the same time.

Re: All travelers to the UK will need pre-authorization by 2025

#26

Post by Someone1234 »

recuter wrote: post #15
ksec wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Anyone arriving at the U.K. border by air or rail without an ETA will be turned away, including if they arrive via Ireland but are not Irish or British citizens. So anything who didn't apply an ETA will now be blocked? I thought they should at least offer an option for something like £100 to get it done at the border. But that is a lot of inconvenience for travellers.

The point of it is to know way ahead of time who is coming to their shores, even at the cost of inconvenience. Quick online esta-style form, not too bad, you just have to remember to do it.

For some people it will be a "quick online form." For others, they've gone from VISA free travel to potentially a trip/interview at the embassy. Just ask anyone with a similar name to a "bad person" what their experience has been like.

Re: All travelers to the UK will need pre-authorization by 2025

#27

Post by mannykannot »

switch007 wrote: post #3

> Anyone arriving at the U.K. border by air or rail without an ETA will be turned away, including if they arrive via Ireland but are not Irish or British citizens. This is contrary to eg BBC reporting which says that Irish /residents/ departing from Ireland also won’t need an ETA Edit: which makes sense, because you often arrive as a domestic passenger when arriving from Ireland, with no passport checks (except for a…

At least according to this report, arriving by road or boat does not seem to be subject to this requirement, which seems odd. AFAIK, there is a lot of traffic in both those modes between Ireland and the UK, and on ferries from multiple ports on mainland Europe.

Re: All travelers to the UK will need pre-authorization by 2025

#29

Post by rchowe »

Since so many people travel to foreign countries by air, these electronic travel authorization programs are about stopping people before they board a plane (or train, since the UK has the channel tunnel).

There was a brief golden age when you could show a passport from a western country at the border of many other countries and they would let you in. No planning ahead required. I think we will see reciprocal waivers return at some point, once countries realize their citizens are affected by these policies as well.

Re: All travelers to the UK will need pre-authorization by 2025

#30

Post by tomxor »

101008 wrote: post #23
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #4

>It is understood the U.K. has ambitions to eventually require all travelers to submit fingerprint biometrics ahead of travel and is working on a scheme that would see this submitted by smartphone. Wait, can they even do that? Can the government make an app that can beam the fingerprints read from the fingerprint sensor phone back to them? AFAIK the biometric data is stored in the phone's secure enclave and can never…

So if you don't own a smartphone to send the biometrics ahead of travel you can't go to the UK?

This is already done in the visa process for countries such as China, and they do it the old fashioned way with paper and ink, then digitise it. This might also be how the UK end up doing it, if you don't have a smart phone with a fingerprint reader, or more likely because that will be harder to make work than they think..

Unlike China, it's possible to live in the UK without a smart phone (I do), last time I visited China it was basically impossible.

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