Prison visitors get face recognition scans in drug crackdown

Facial recognition and eye scanning have been deployed at prisons to prevent drug smuggling. The Ministry of Justice said the biometric scans for visitors were designed to help staff identify people bringing in contraband. At one prison, there were more "no shows" from visitors than usual after they learned the scans were being used. But prison campaigners said if families were deterred from visiting, then it would be "counter-productive". In the trials, facial recognition technology was used at HMP Humber; iris scanners at HMP Lindholme; and identity document verification at HMP Hull.