Singapore airport may use facial recognition to find late passengers

Changi's newest terminal, T4, uses facial recognition tech. Pic/AFP

Ever been delayed on a flight because of straggling fellow passengers? That might be an annoyance of the past at Singapore's Changi airport, which is testing facial recognition systems that could, in future, help locate lost travellers or those spending a little too much time in the duty-free shops.

It comes as the island state embarks on a 'smart nation' initiative to utilise technology to improve lives, create economic opportunity and build community ties. However, the proposed use of cameras mounted on lamp posts that are linked to facial recognition software has raised privacy concerns.

Steve Lee, Changi Airport Group's chief information officer, said that the airport's experiments are not from a "big brother" perspective, but solve real problems. Facial recognition technology typically allows users to match the faces of people picked up on cameras with those in databases. Lee said they have tested technology that could allow for this.