Britain starts to accept passport photos taken on mobile phones
Renewing passports has become easier with the introduction of online applications
By B.R.
DESPITE what doting parents claim, babies are mostly generic-looking. It sometimes takes Gulliver an embarrassing length of time to pick out his own child in old baby-group photos. He certainly wouldn’t recognise her from her passport picture aged four months.
Now she is five, with recognisable facial features, she will shortly have to renew her passport. Snapping the new likeness should be easier than the first time around, when it involved a schlep to a photography shop, and several attempts to get her facing the right way, head up, with Mrs Gulliver’s supporting hands nowhere in shot. In fact she won’t even have to leave the house. The passport office has confirmed that it will now accept photos taken on mobile phones when Brits renew their passports online. (Those applying for their first passports still have to have physical photos countersigned by a professional acquaintance to vouch for their likeness.)
The change should be welcomed. The whole process of renewing a British passport has become easier since the introduction of online applications last year. Two main objections have been raised, though. The Mail on Sunday is exercised about the security implications. It quotes Lord Harris of Haringey, who sits on the National Security Strategy Joint Committee, as saying that digital pictures leave “it open for people to manipulate photographs and potentially endanger security”. It is true, of course, that digital photos can be more easily tampered with than physical ones. But they can also be easily checked against photos already on the passport database and read by facial-recognition machines, which is exactly what the Home Office says it intends to do.
Of more concern to romantics is that the move will hasten the demise of the old-fashioned photo booth. An article in the Guardian wistfully recalls the days of couples smooching behind the curtain for cheeky pic. (Although, as the paper points out, the market for such images had already been killed by Snapchat.)
Still, it is difficult to get too upset; there are always casualties with progress. Particularly as the rules governing what is an acceptable passport photo are so exacting. No smiling, spectacles or shadows; eyes must be open and staring straight ahead; and a uniform background (5-10% grey recommended) are just a few of the diktats. That can all take a few goes to get right. Less stressful and cheaper, then, to do it at home with a phone.
We might even end up with a portrait that we like. Although, sadly for the Instagram generation, editing out unsightly spots is verboten. Worse, “selfies” will not be allowed; the picture has to be taken from a distance of 1.5m. Still, one that makes us recognisable to our own family would be an improvement.
