Misleading press releases

Dear Home Office,

I refer to the press release 'High tech border control success'
issued by the UK Border Agency on 23 November 2009, please see
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/siteco...

The press release asserts that nearly a million people have now
passed through the "state-of-the-art facial recognition gates"
installed at several UK airports and that this increases the
nation's border security:

"The gates take seconds to scan each passenger's face against the
digital photo recorded in their passport. If there is a match, the
e-passport gates open, to allow the traveller across the border."

Biometrics based on facial geometry do not work, please see for
example http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7568686.stm and
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3...
and
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopi...

Given which, this pantomime cannot increase security. Given which,
the press release is misleading.

The matter of misleading press releases issued by the Home Office
has been raised with you before, in connection with another one of
your executive agencies, the Identity & Passport Service, please
see http://dematerialisedid.com/BCSL/Norming... A year later,
the situation has not improved.

1. Would you please explain how the facial recognition facilities
of these "smart gates" increase security.

2. If you can't, then please explain how the Home Office can
continue to issue press releases which it knows to be misleading.

Yours faithfully,

David Moss

Dear Freedom Of Information Team ( IND ),

It is now 6 weeks since my initial request made on 22 January 2010.
A reply was expected in 4 weeks. Could I ask you please for a
response.

The UK Border Agency's 23 November 2009 press release asserts that
these smart gates at airports increase our security. And yet at a
meeting with them on 23 February 2010 [1], three months later, the
Agency said that this is just a trial of the gates. The same point
is made in a letter from Lin Homer, the Chief Executive [2].

If it's a trial, the press release is misleading. If the smart
gates are thought to be reliable, then the public deserves and
needs to see the evidence. We need a reason to believe. We can't
just take it on faith.

I look forward to your prompt and full response.

Yours sincerely,

David Moss

1. http://dematerialisedid.com/BCSL/Faith.h...

2. http://dematerialisedid.com/BCSL/UKBA201...

Dear Home Office,

Please pass this on to the Information Access Team, Home Office,
Ground Floor, Seacole Building, 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF,
for a Freedom of Information internal review.

The 'Misleading press releases' request was submitted two months
ago and acknowledged three days later. Since then there has been no
response.

A full history of the FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/mi...

Yours faithfully,

David Moss