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Biometric ID Systems Grew Internationally… And So Did Concerns About Privacy
Around the world, systems of identification that employ automatic recognition of individuals’ faces, fingerprints, or irises are gaining ground. Biometric ID systems are increasingly being deployed at international border checkpoints, by governments seeking to implement national ID schemes, and by private-sector actors. Yet as biometric data is collected from more and more individuals, privacy concerns about the use of this technology are also attracting attention. Below are several examples of the year’s most prominent debates around biometrics.
- FRANCE: In early March, the French National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) passed a law proposing the creation of a Read more…
Hunt for illegal immigrants wants your fingerprint
A U.S. Border Patrol vehicle sits parked in front of a crowd of people peering through the U.S.-Mexico border fence at Border Field State Park in San Diego in 2009. At one time, before the enhanced border fence in the area, the San Diego area held the most popular routes for illegal immigrants heading into the United States. (Photo by Denis Poroy / Associated Press file)
Because others have broken the law, the federal government may soon make you prove that you are not a criminal.
Call it logic, Washington-style.
Legislators in the Senate, working to get a handle on illegal immigration, have been talking about requiring each and every person in the land to have an identification card, implanted with a fingerprint or some other biometric detail, in order to get a job. In other words, we would all be guilty until we could prove our innocence, would all be illegals until we could prove our citizenship.
The problem: undocumented workers. Washington’s solution: give the citizens documents.
This plan, being developed by senators working on an immigration fix, badly misreads the mood of the citizenry. The people – liberals and conservatives alike – do not trust the government to do the right thing. Don’t the nation’s elected officials read the polls? Do they really believe that Read more…
Obama Pushing National ID Card To Control Illegal Immigration?
America’s new national identification system is coming. President Obama and a bipartisan group of senators want to enact a national identification card that would link to a database containing your name, Social Security number, and biometric information such as pictures and fingerprints. The Washington Post editorial board wants one too.
Two points are central to their argument: 1) this identification system is a necessary, effective, and appropriate way to control illegal immigration, and 2) it will be used strictly for employment purposes. Both claims lack any credibility.
Is it necessary?
The Post claims there are only two ways to end illegal immigration: border security or a national ID. But that’s not true. If we simply created an accessible legal avenue for entry, such as we had during the early 1960s, illegal immigration could be eliminated. The same amount of border enforcement with hundreds of thousands of fewer border crossers would secure the border and end illegal immigration.
Is it effective?
“If illegal immigrants can’t get jobs, they won’t come to this country,” The Post editors reason. That’s largely true, but a national ID mandate does Read more…
Indonesia advances world’s most ambitious biometric-based national identity card project
Tampa — You might not guess that Indonesia, a large country that’s basically an archipelago of over 70,000 islands that has infrastructure issues in electricity and limited bandwidth, is the nation rolling out the world’s most ambitious biometrics-based national identity card project for its citizens. But it is.
Indonesia is spending $600 million on a project to give 172 million residents a national identity card that will be used for a wide range of purposes, including proving identity for voter registration, passport issuance, tax and financial matters, and much more. This electronic national identity card , called the e-KTP, is a government effort to get millions of citizens to enroll at registration centers where their fingerprint, iris and face are captured as images through biometric equipment and personal information stored as a record associated with each electronic identity card. According to Dr. Husni Fahmi, who heads up the e-KTP project in Indonesia, the hope is all will be in place before the next election in 2014.
“It’s a national ID and Read more…
UAE Signs Deal to Integrate National IDs Into Mobile Phones
The United Arab Emirates signed a deal with telecommunications company, Etisalat, to embed citizens’ national ID information into mobile phones. They will now be exploring a system that would utilize an NFC or Near Field Communication application, which allows cell phones to communicate data via radio frequency within very close range. The UAE has had a national ID system since 2004, with IDs carrying a chip similar to one on a credit card and holding a person’s name, birthday, gender, photograph, fingerprint, and ID number.
Etisalat, based in the UAE, has had a history working with the Emirati government on various initiatives. Notably, the company helped the government develop surveillance malware to be installed on Blackberry devices. However, it was quickly revealed that the “network upgrade” in disguise was in fact meant to spy on Read more…
Biometrics in Argentina: Mass Surveillance as a State Policy
advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org
Two years ago, the UK dismantled their national ID scheme and shredded their National Identity Registry in response to great public outcry over the privacy-invasive program. Unfortunately privacy protections have been less rosy elsewhere. In Argentina, the national ID fight was lost some time ago. A law enacted during the military dictatorship forced all individuals to obtain a government-mandated ID. Now, they are in the process of enhancing its mandatory National Registry of Persons (RENAPER) with biometric data such as fingerprints and digitized faces. The government plans to repurpose this database in order to facilitate “easyaccess” to law enforcement by merging this data into a new, security-focused integrated system. This raises the specter of mass surveillance, as Argentinean law enforcement will have access to Read more…
Group urges U.S. to adopt electronic ID cards for citizens
Source: NextGov
As the Obama administration works on a set of voluntary online credentials for American Web surfers, some technologists say the government should examine Estonia’s mandatory electronic identification cards as a model.
In the United States, opposition to national ID cards has long prevented the government from assigning citizens electronic credentials for online authentication purposes. But, certain aspects of e-credentials may protect personal information better than the passwords and PIN numbers people currently use for Read more…
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