All hotels in Abu Dhabi will have facial recognition technology installed for the protection of guests, staff, and residents. The new technology will "simplify procedures and significantly reduce check-in time," as well as "enhance guest verification processes."
During guest check-in, biometric information is collected and analyzed by the facial recognition system. The Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs & Port Security (ICP) retrieves the safely encrypted data and sends it to a centralized database run by the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi.
According to UAE cybersecurity and data privacy laws, the information will only be utilized to improve visitor safety and expedite hotel operations while closely following all applicable laws and moral principles.
In collaboration with hotels, this is the first government-led project in Abu Dhabi to implement facial recognition technology. The technique is now being piloted in a few chosen hotels within the emirate.
Five-star hotels in Abu Dhabi city, the Al Ain Region, and the Al Dhafra Region will be the focus of the first phase of the full rollout. A second phase will then target four-star hotels, and finally, all other hotel categories will be gradually added.
In collaboration with ICP, DCT Abu Dhabi is deploying the system through its Licensing & Regulatory Compliance Department.
