Unwrapping the Biometric Present

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The nations identification system is in shambles. Although there is a single national identification document -- the U.S. passport -- fewer than seven million Americans are issued passports each year, and those who do have them rarely carry it on a daily basis.

Instead, the ubiquitous identification document that Americans carry is the state-issued drivers license. While the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators has adopted nationwide standards for what information should be on each license, it is still very difficult to pick up an out-of-state license and discern from looking at it if the license is legitimate or an outright fake.

Policymakers in Washington know that its going to be a huge battle to get Americans to accept a national identification card. In the meantime, theyre systematically increasing the use of biometrics at home and abroad.

One could charitably argue that this is a way of testing out the technology on increasingly larger populations in increasingly diverse conditions. On the other hand, one could argue that our government is pushing an unpopular surveillance technology on people who cant fight back --- with the hope that the technology will eventually slide down the slippery slope into the general population.

The U.S. forces in Iraq have deployed a biometric identification system in Fallujah designed to identify all Arab males of gun-toting, suicide-bombing age. Each male will have their finger printed and their iris scanned. They will then be given an ID card. To enter or leave the city, theyll need to present the card and be scanned again. In theory, the terrorists wont be issued ID cards, and biometrics will prevent them from borrowing a card from a friend who looks the same.
 
Here in the United States, the government has started fingerprinting foreigners entering the country as part of the US-VISIT program. Travelers applying for a visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate have a digital photograph snapped (a biometric) and both index fingers electronically scanned (two more biometrics). When the traveler shows up to enter the United States, they are scanned again and if the fingerprints dont match, then entrance is denied.

In the future, the State Department will be able to search databanks using these biometrics to discover if, for example, the person who is now seeking a visa under one name was denied a visa when they applied three years ago using a different name.

Other countries are moving to biometrics as well --- frequently thanks to prodding from the United States. Canadian Customs, for instance, has adopted a system called CANPASS. Truck drivers can be fingerprinted so that they can travel between the the United States and Canada quickly. In major airports, frequent flyers can have their iris scanned so that they can quickly travel through customs and immigration.

Privacy activists are usually quite suspect about biometrics. In part, this is because totalitarian states use strong identification techniques as a way of identifying and singling out the trouble makers who are interested in things like petty reforms, democracy, and freedom. A system properly designed to ensure the security of the borders should not provide the basis for routine identification within the United States, notes the Electronic Privacy Information Center in its report on the 9/11 Commission.

Biometric technology is inherently individuating and interfaces easily to database technology, making privacy violations easier and more damaging, echos the Electronic Frontier Foundation on its report on biometrics.