Airport

U.S. airline passengers near the security checkpoint can be searched any time and no longer can refuse consent by leaving the airport, the nation's largest federal appeals court ruled Friday.

The miSense trial at London's Heathrow Airport will use biometric fingerprint and iris scans to screen air passengers on selected Emirates and Cathay Pacific flights to and from Dubai and Hong Kong. The trial, which is voluntary, will run until the end of January at Terminal 3. To register for miSense, passengers must undergo an enrollment check at Heathrow where their passport is checked, identity verified and biometrics scanned. The fingerprint scanner (pictured) records prints for all 10 digits. A digital facial image is also taken, along with iris scans of both eyes (pictured). The whole process takes about five minutes and the biometric information is uploaded onto the chip of a miSense "membership" smart card. The card is activated 24 hours later, after further background checks to verify the identity of the person.