Testing the acceptance of smart border control technologies
Smart border control technologies, including automated border control systems, have the potential to revolutionise customs and immigration. Using a combination of data and biometric recognition software, these automated self-service barriers can enable seamless border crossings and security checks while also respecting a person’s right to privacy. The challenge is that this technology only works if people use them. “The biggest barrier to the adoption of border control systems is a lack of acceptance, not only by travellers, but also by border agencies,” says Pantelis Velanas, a senior researcher at the European University Cyprus. With the support of the EU-funded METICOS project, Velanas is leading an effort to better understand user acceptance of border control technologies. “Through modelling and data analysis, our aim is to predict and explain the acceptance or rejection of smart border technologies and then use this information to help change the trajectory towards the widespread use of no gate security solutions,” explains Velanas.
Measuring technology anxiety and performance expectancy
The project developed numerous models and solutions for measuring such metrics as technology anxiety and performance expectancy, amongst other variables. For example, through its technology acceptance models, researchers could study smart border crossing technologies from a user experience perspective. “Our goal here was to understand and predict acceptance – both critical prerequisites to ensuring adoption,” remarks Velanas. Researchers also developed a social sensing platform that allowed them to continuously monitor the social acceptance of a technology. To achieve this, the platform used a combination of modelling and simulation to identify different behavioural patterns exhibited when people pass through a smart EU border control system. Another key solution was a big data analytics engine capable of harmonising data gathered from heterogenous sources. The engine uses machine and deep learning, along with statistical algorithms and data analytics, to uncover patterns regarding how a traveller or border control staff member accepts smart border control technologies.
Testing automated border control gates with virtual reality
The biggest challenge the project faced was figuring out how to implement these various solutions at borders. “Regulations prohibited us from using sensors or cameras at the border sites, and measuring border authority and traveller trust in these technologies using emotion or imaging analysis was impossible due to ethical, regulatory and security restrictions,” notes Velanas. Instead, researchers turned to virtual reality (VR). For example, at Eleftherios Venizelos Airport in Athens, Greece, the project conducted a VR-based pilot programme involving 20 Hellenic Police Academy students, along with two members of the local police department and one observer from Frontex. The pilot, which had participants act as both border control agents and travellers, tested the use of an eye-tracking technology developed by the METICOS project. “The use of VR systems let us test different automated border control gates and measure user acceptance of those technologies, all without disturbing the normal passenger flow,” adds Velanas.
Ensuring privacy without compromising security
The METICOS project succeeded at turning raw data into comprehensible, user-friendly information that enables evidence-based decision-making by border management organisations. More so, it did this while ensuring traveller privacy and not compromising on security. “Rather than a predictable risk-assessment model, METICOS offers a flexible, targeted concept that will enable border controls to adapt to ever-evolving security threats,” concludes Velanas.
Keywords
METICOS, smart border control technologies, no gate security solutions, automated border control systems, customs and immigration, big data, virtual reality, Frontex
