Japan's immigration to use facial recognition system to counter terrorism

Japan's Ministry of Justice on Friday announced that it will begin using an upgraded facial recognition system for immigration checks at the nation's airports and seaports to better prevent terrorism.

The ministry said the new system, which will be implemented next Monday, will take photographs of foreign nationals at immigration checkpoints at 156 places across the nation.

The technology used in the new system will then be able to automatically check the photos against a database of known or suspected terrorists here or overseas.

The ministry said its new system uses facial recognition technology to compare facial characteristics in the images of the pictures taken.

If a match with a known or suspected terrorist is made, the ministry said that specializes personnel will be dispatched to analyze the pictures manually and detain and question the suspects if a confirmed match is found.

The current system relies solely on manual comparisons of facial images of foreign nationals with those on suspected terrorist watch lists. All foreigners aged over 16 are also photographed and fingerprinted at immigration.

The ministry said it hopes the new system will be able to clamp down on potential terrorists entering the country under false names or whose fingerprints may not be available. Enditem