This'll probably apply to the UK's new National ID cards if they ever approve them. http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20050906T030000-0500_87710_OBS__DON... 'Don't smile for passport photos' AFP Tuesday, September 06, 2005 LONDON, England (AFP) - Britons are being told not to smile for photographs when applying for new passports to avoid confusing new security scanners introduced at airports worldwide, officials said yesterday. Passport applicants from next week must keep their mouths closed and retain a neutral expression to meet new facial recognition technology being used in airport scanners, they said. The new international requirements were announced in August 2003 as part of a process to enable production of new, more secure biometric "ePassports" with facial recognition technology, the United Kingdom Passport Service said on its website. By 2008 it is hoped that fingerprint identification will also be used in passports. Britain is among the first countries to implement the new requirements, a spokesman at the Home Office (interior ministry) said. There were concerns that Britain would not meet the United States deadline for passport changes, which was brought forward in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in the United States, the spokesman said. Without the new ePassports, visitors would have to apply for visas, the spokesman said. However, the United States has not been able to keep up with its own deadline, delaying it twice, leaving Britain enough time to implement the new requirements, he added. The security scanners are reported to work by matching key points on the holder's face, such as the mouth and eyes, with the photograph. The new rules, according to one report, say "photographs must show no shadows: your face looking straight at the camera, a neutral expression, with your mouth closed". Eyes must be open and clearly visible, and there must be no sunglasses, tinted glasses or hair across the eyes, it added.