Plans are under way to extend the use of passport e-gates to children aged eight and nine, according to reports from Belfast Telegraph and the Evening Standard. The e-gates use facial recognition technology to verify passengers’ identities by matching a traveler’s face against the photograph stored in their passport. The initiative aims to broaden eligibility for using automated border controls to younger children, while keeping the verification process aligned with the passport photo held in the travel document. Both outlets describe the same core mechanism: the gates scan a passenger’s face and perform a check against the passport image to confirm identity. The reporting does not indicate any change in how the technology works, but it does focus on the age expansion, suggesting an adjustment to the criteria for when children can use the automated e-gates rather than relying solely on staffed processing. No additional rollout timeline or operational details are included in the provided summaries.