In the most significant technology shift at the UK border since e-Gates, the Home Office has signed a three-year, £322,000 contract with German biometrics specialist Cognitec to deploy facial age-estimation (FAE) in its asylum processing system. The award—channelled through IT integrator Akhter Computers—moves FAE from pilot to operational use after 18 months of testing. Under new statutory guidance published this week, immigration officers will be able to photograph undocumented arrivals and run the images through Cognitec’s artificial-intelligence model, which returns a probability-based age range in seconds. Officers can then decide whether to treat the individual as a minor—triggering safeguarding rules and specialist accommodation—or as an adult who can be detained in standard facilities. The Home Office argues the tool will curb abuse of the asylum system by adults posing as children and cut the time—sometimes weeks—it currently takes to arrange medical or social-worker assessments. Ministers cite internal figures showing that 326 migrants initially recorded as adults in 2025 were later found to be under-18. “AI lets us protect genuine child refugees while stopping queue-jumpers gaming the system,” said Border Security Minister Alex Norris. Civil-liberty and children’s charities are unconvinced. Refugee Council chief Enver Solomon warned that algorithmic bias could misclassify vulnerable teenagers: “Even small error rates can have life-changing consequences.” A 2025 NIST study found FAE accuracy was generally lower for women and darker-skinned faces. The Home Office insists officers will make the final decision and that disputed cases can still be referred for expert assessment. For global-mobility managers the development is a bell-wether: governments are increasingly using AI not only to verify identity but also to infer personal attributes such as age, intent or risk profile. Employers relocating staff under protection routes (e.g. Afghan or Ukrainian schemes) should be prepared for new biometric requirements, while privacy teams will need to update data-protection impact assessments to reflect expanded facial-data processing.
Source: Biometric Update
