UK to tender facial age estimation for migrant assessments within weeks

Desperate people take desperate measures. This cliché applies to immigrants lying about their age to increase their chances of being accepted in a new home country, and skeptics of biometric facial age estimation will say the same about attempting to prove the veracity of those claims with AI.

Irregular migration is already a political issue in Britain, driving proposals for digital identity, and now a test of age estimation based on face biometrics later this year.

More than half (56 percent) of the migrants to the UK in 2024 who claimed on arrival to be children were later found or “admitted” to be 18 or older, according to Home Office statistics.

Dame Angela Eagle told UK Parliament that facial age estimation “likely” is “the most cost-effective option to pursue” for improving age assessment. The conclusion is based on tests and analysis carried out following the release of an immigration white paper published in May that considered the problem.

Those tests and analysis were supported by the Age Estimation Science Advisory Committee (AESAC), Eagle says.

Facial age estimation provides a “potentially rapid and simple means” for officials tasked with carrying out age assessments to confirm or reconsider their conclusions. The technology could be put in place during 2026, she says.

A tender will be launched in early August to prepare for a potential rollout, according to Eagle’s statement.

Facial age estimation technology is best-known for its online application, but companies that develop the software, such as Innovative Technology (ITL), have been providing it for in-person applications for years, and it has been independently assessed.

“We welcome the opinion that Facial Age Estimation is a ‘cost effective’ option in accurately assessing the age of individuals,” ITL Head of Biometric Technology Dr. Andrew O’Brien told Biometric Update in an email. “AI technology has the potential to provide a robust age assessment method for the asylum or immigration system where age is either unknown or disputed. While online may grab the headlines, we have been working hard to offer the same effective tools in the offline, brick and mortar world. Technology has improved and evolved rapidly and FAE offers far higher accuracy than inconsistent human judgments. We have seen very positive responses to our Facial Age Estimation products which are being deployed to aid retailers in the often overlooked and difficult task of upholding age verification policies. Age restricted products and services are age restricted for a reason — we have a societal responsibility to protect the underage and now we have the tools to do so. Assessing the possible use of FAE driven by AI to aid a safer, faster and more workable solution for assessing immigrant age can only be a positive response to this important, complex and growing issue.”

Inspection finds difficult process riddled with problems

The 56 percent figure above comes from a report by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, which presents “An inspection of the Home Office’s use of age assessments.”

Eagle notes that the inspection the report is based on took place before Home Office completed its review of technologies for supporting age assessment, and does not take its conclusions of her announcements into account.

The report also calls the judgements of Home Office into question. In an inspection of 100 case files, 38 individuals were found to have disputed assessments that they were adults, and local authorities found 22 of those 38 individuals to be under 18. The UK also has a National Age Assessment Board (NAAB) established in March of 2023 to help local authorities make these judgements.

Overall, the report notes the difficulty of assessing age at the best of times, and particularly given the many different ethnic and social variables that migration officials face in making such determinations.

The report makes eight recommendations to the Home Office, including to carry out “a formal evaluation of initial age decision training” and to make sure the NAAB’s IT requirements are met.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  border security  |  children  |  face biometrics  |  facial age estimation (FAE)  |  Home Office Biometrics (HOB)  |  Innovative Technology  |  tender  |  UK age verification