I had heard something about some sort of counter being incremented in the passport when it's read, which was meant to dissuade you from messing with it, since the next check-in at a border crossing would report this information...
This article doesn't really give much useful information beyond what is mostly well-known.
i went through border control twice at an airport after going to the wrong gate and when i returned to the uk the e-gates immediately declined to process it (the camera etc. didn't move and e.g. reject the facial recognition, it just immediately said go to the desks). i've always wondered what that was about, how do they know i didn't just go to a third country?
This article doesn't really give much useful information beyond what is mostly well-known.