Border management agencies can benefit from using digital identity supported by biometrics to improve the traveller experience while maintaining safety and security (World Economic Forum, 2018, p. 28). Image quality remains a central factor in the overall accuracy of facial recognition systems: the so-called stop and look image capture would be slower, which compromises efficiency, but at the same time results in better quality images than those captured from a distance, where travellers are in motion (Israel, 2020, p. 163). Automated Border Control (ABC) at airports is the most common example of using facial recognition technology. The ABC system authenticates the electronic, machine-readable travel document or token in an automated manner, establishes that the passenger is the rightful owner of the document or token, queries the border control records, and then determines the right to cross the border according to predetermined rules (Frontex, 2015, p. 10). Current ABC systems support many biometric features, including facial recognition and (less commonly) iris recognition. ABC based on facial recognition, already used in Italy, works by comparing the traveller’s live facial image with the facial image stored on the chip in their travel document, thus allowing to verify/confirm their identity (along with other checks) without having to store the new facial images in a database (Chiusi et al, 2020, p. 150). Automated border control gates with facial recognition (so-called ABC Gates) were first installed at Naples airport in 2016, while other facial recognition technologies were set up as a trial at several other Italian airports, such as Milan-Linate, Malpensa and Rome’s Fiumicino airports—the country’s three largest domestic and international flights. The essence of this technology would be that passengers can travel without congestion, as identification and boarding cards would be replaced with the passenger’s face.