EU tests lie detector at border control in Greece, Hungary and Latvia
In Greece, Hungary and Latvia, a European Union test with a lie detector begins at border control. The iBorderCtrl system analyzes travelers ‘micro facial expressions’ to check whether they are telling the truth.
According to explanations from the European Commission, travelers will have to deal with the iBorderCtrl system for the first time when they apply online to cross the border. They then have to upload an image of their passport and answer questions posed by an animated customs officer via a webcam. The virtual border guard is personalized based on the traveler’s gender, origin and language.
A second check follows at the border. Travelers marked as ‘low risk’ by the system are briefly reviewed. High-risk travelers will be subject to stricter controls, with border guards using a ‘handheld device’ to re-record the travelers’ facial expressions when re-asking the previously posed questions. The photos are then compared with the images previously captured via a webcam.
The system will be tested during a six-month pilot, Gizomodo writes. This is done under the supervision of the Hungarian police at four border crossings in Hungary, Latvia and Greece. During the test, no actual decisions would be made based on the lie detector.
According to New Scientist, the virtual customs officer asks questions such as “What’s in your suitcase?” and “If you open the briefcase and show me the contents, does this confirm that your answers were correct?”. With artificial intelligence, the lie detector would analyze 38 micro facial expressions and thus give a score.
The iBorderCtrl system is still very experimental. According to New Scientist, it’s based on another system that’s been tested on just 30 people. On that test, half of the people told the truth and the other half told lies. The system had an accuracy of about 76 percent on that test. The team behind the system says they are confident they can increase the accuracy to 85 percent.
With the pilot in Hungary, Greece and Latvia, the EU aims to demonstrate that the system can help customs officers identify travelers who engage in ‘criminal activities’. It is intended to complement current control methods. It is not known whether and when the lie detection will actually be used for border control in the EU.
Luxembourg is in charge of the EU project, which costs 4.5 million euros. Cyprus, the United Kingdom, Poland, Spain and Germany are also involved in the project, but as far as we know there are no actual tests with the system in those countries.