Fingerprinted at Heathrow?
March 7, 2010 3:10 PM Subscribe
I am a Canadian citizen and UK work permit holder, and was fingerprinted entering the UK at Heathrow airport last week. Is this something I should bother complaining about, and if so, then who should I be contacting?
I have usually flown out of London at least once a month for the past couple of years, and have never been fingerprinted at any terminal of any UK airport before. I was not singled out for fingerprinting, this seemed to be asked of everyone who arrived the same time as me. My objection is that I was never notified, when leaving the country or upon returning, that I would be fingerprinted when re-entering. Googling turned up news articles from 2008 about a stink being raised when they tried to start fingerprinting people travelling through Terminal 5 when it opened, but no newer information, leading me to suspect that they are attempting to quietly re-introduce mandatory fingerprinting. Is this worth raising a fuss over (in the hopes of getting them to remove my fingerprints from whatever database they are planning to store it on)? Is this an issue with BAA or the UK government?
I have usually flown out of London at least once a month for the past couple of years, and have never been fingerprinted at any terminal of any UK airport before. I was not singled out for fingerprinting, this seemed to be asked of everyone who arrived the same time as me. My objection is that I was never notified, when leaving the country or upon returning, that I would be fingerprinted when re-entering. Googling turned up news articles from 2008 about a stink being raised when they tried to start fingerprinting people travelling through Terminal 5 when it opened, but no newer information, leading me to suspect that they are attempting to quietly re-introduce mandatory fingerprinting. Is this worth raising a fuss over (in the hopes of getting them to remove my fingerprints from whatever database they are planning to store it on)? Is this an issue with BAA or the UK government?
From woodway's link:
Passengers will have to provide their fingerprints each time they travel to the UK with a visa, entry clearance or identity card for foreign nationals. Fingerprints will be held for a maximum of two working days, after which they will be destroyed.
Sounds pretty similar to the US system; I get fingerprinted every time I re-enter the US.
posted by Nice Guy Mike at 3:46 PM on March 7, 2010
Passengers will have to provide their fingerprints each time they travel to the UK with a visa, entry clearance or identity card for foreign nationals. Fingerprints will be held for a maximum of two working days, after which they will be destroyed.
Sounds pretty similar to the US system; I get fingerprinted every time I re-enter the US.
posted by Nice Guy Mike at 3:46 PM on March 7, 2010
What, exactly, is your objection to being fingerprinted?
And no, it's not worth arguing with security at Heathrow about anything unless you want to have far more hassle every subsequent time you fly through there.
posted by fshgrl at 3:47 PM on March 7, 2010
And no, it's not worth arguing with security at Heathrow about anything unless you want to have far more hassle every subsequent time you fly through there.
posted by fshgrl at 3:47 PM on March 7, 2010
Response by poster: My objection is more that I wasn't given any notification or information about being fingerprinted when I re-entered. If you are going to collect personal data, then you should at least be informed of what they intend to do with it (as is made more clear in woodway's link).
And actually, from that same link, it seems that as I wasn't fingerprinted when I received my working visa, I should not have been fingerprinted upon entry. That is a point I could have raised if I had been given a leaflet explaining the new procedure when I entered.
posted by aiglet at 4:10 PM on March 7, 2010
And actually, from that same link, it seems that as I wasn't fingerprinted when I received my working visa, I should not have been fingerprinted upon entry. That is a point I could have raised if I had been given a leaflet explaining the new procedure when I entered.
posted by aiglet at 4:10 PM on March 7, 2010
If your objection is not based on privacy issues, may I suggest registering for the Iris program? You are eligible and it bypasses both the queues and officer unfriendliness at LHR/LGW immigration. I have never waited in line more than 3-5 minutes during the past few years, it's free, and it took me about 15 minutes to register for it at LHR.
posted by meerkatty at 4:16 PM on March 7, 2010
posted by meerkatty at 4:16 PM on March 7, 2010
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posted by woodway at 3:43 PM on March 7, 2010