The Technological Noose Is Being Tightened Quickly
September 1, 2002
by Joseph P. Tartaro
Executive Editor
On Aug. 6 The Irish Times told readers that Irish citizens will lose the right to enter the US without obtaining a visa beginning in October 2004 unless a microchip storing biometric data—such as fingerprints or iris scans—is embedded in new passports.
Legislation signed into law by President Bush in May will require all 28 nations in the US government’s visa-waiver program to provide biometric data on all newly-issued travel documents.
The new law, which is aimed at tightening up security following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, has prompted the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs to reconsider biometrics, and the consequences of the new US legislation.
Documents obtained by The Irish Times show the department considered the need for biometric identifiers on passports as early as August 2001. Tender documents outlining the technology requirements for a new automated passport system issued by the Irish government include specific requirements to enable it to be compatible with the introduction of biometrics to passports.
Biometric technologies attempt to harness people’s biological characteristics and sort, match and identify these for a range of applications mainly for security. The most popular biometrics currently used by police forces and government agencies in Britain and the US are fingerprints, iris scans and face imaging.
Irish government sources believe the withdrawal of visa exemption from Irish citizens could seriously damage trade and tourism between the US and the Republic. However, some officials believe the US will not be able to meet its own deadline set in the legislation, The Times noted.
A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed it would consider embedding this type of biometric technology in the medium to long term. However, he said no decision had been taken by the government and biometrics would not be introduced in the short-term.
People holding Irish passports issued before October 2004 will not be affected by the law until their current passports expire.
Under the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Reform Act, US visas will also feature biometric data that can be read by scanners at all ports of entry into the US. The move would be opposed by many civil liberties groups as an infringement on privacy.
A few days later, Associated Press reported that the US Justice Department has chosen Sept. 11 as the starting date for a new program that will require tens of thousands of foreign visitors to be fingerprinted and photographed at the border, according to US officials.
The security program, developed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), will begin at several unnamed ports of entry and will mostly affect those from Muslim and Middle Eastern countries.
After a 20-day testing period, all remaining ports of entry will implement the new system on Oct. 1, 2002.
Attorney General John Ashcroft said the program will correct some of the problems that led to the Sept. 11 attacks.
“The vulnerabilities of our immigration system became starkly clear on Sept. 11,” Ashcroft said. “This system will expand substantially America’s scrutiny of those foreign visitors who may present an elevated national security risk. And it will provide a vital line of defense in the war against terrorism.”
Under the new program, the fingerprints of many foreign visitors will be matched against a database of known criminals and a database of known terrorists.
The government says the security system will target:
Some immigration advocates say the program is treating visitors unfairly, but INS spokesman Bill Strassberger said the criticism was unfounded.
During a pilot project using the same technology to identify wanted criminals attempting to re-enter the United States, the INS has received an average of about 70 fingerprint “hits” a week. The fingerprinting led to the arrest of more than 2,000 wanted felons between January and July, the government claims.
Requiring biometric identifiers on passports issued by some countries, and on visas issued by the the US is merely an extension of a program that began when the Pentagon began issuing ID cards with imbedded biometric data to military personnel. And all of these steps appear to lead down a path that would involve “national” ID cards for all citizens, presumably issued by state motor vehicle bureaus. Motor vehicle departments already issue non-driver photo ID cards that can be used for airport security screening and other identification purposes.
Homeland Security czar Tom Ridge and others in Congress and the Administration have been pushing for ID cards with biometrics for some time, but appear to have backed off somewhat in the face of opposition from civil liberties organizations and concerned citizens.
Proponents of the biometrics ID cards promote the security value and downplay the privacy and constitutional concerns. But once that data is linked in a huge government data base with other information about individuals—including credit data, firearms ownership, medical and mental health records—the technological noose will be pulled tight.
Consider, for instance, that many people already object to those “money-saving” club cards issued by food, drug, and even pet-food stores. While these so-called customer loyalty cards might save you a few pennies at the checkout counter, your buying habits could end up in the hands of government agents.
Government Given Data
According to one privacy expert cited by Fox News, at least one national grocery chain voluntarily handed over to the government records from its customer loyalty card database in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Link these with other customer databases—including those culled from travel, financial and insurance industries—and the government has a massive, nationwide, ongoing surveillance program.
“I think this is exactly what the FBI wants to do and there really isn’t any obstacle to them doing it anymore,” charged Lee Tien, a policy analyst with the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Thousands of supermarkets across the country have been offering loyalty cards to their customers for years. Some ask for basic information in their applications, like name, address and phone number. Others ask for more personal information, like Social Security numbers and e-mail addresses.
Each time the card is used, purchases are recorded in a massive database. In exchange, customers get discounts and special offers based on their buying preferences.
“It doesn’t take a marketing genius to create an in-depth profile of someone that would be reasonably accurate just based on their purchasing history,” said Donna Hoffman, a professor at Vanderbilt University and privacy expert with the campus’ E-Lab.
Now link these information databases with hidden video cameras that can also identify people on the basis of biometric data such as face or iris scans. And consider that if you are a cell phone user, you can already be tracked anywhere in the world.
The recent movie Minority Report uses some of these possibilities as fiction set many years in the future. Truth is: it’s not fiction and it’s not more than months away.