Biometric IDs could see massive growth

By Thomas Frank, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON - The concept was simple at first: Frequent fliers would
clear a background check, become "trusted travelers" and be sped
through less stringent airport security.

But now, the government's small, 13-month-old test program known as
Registered Traveler is provoking an intense and increasingly
complicated debate about privacy and the proper roles of government
and business. The resolution could have far-reaching implications not
only for how Americans travel by air, but how they conduct their daily
lives and commerce.

Government background checks conducted for the Registered Traveler
program, and the biometric ID cards issued to those who enroll, could
in the future determine how someone makes a purchase on credit, enters
an office building or arena, turns on a cell phone or boards a train.

Frank Fitzsimmons, CEO of iris-scan developer Iridian Technologies,
says millions of travelers using biometrics at airport security 
"will have dramatic effect on their acceptance in other markets" 
- activation of cash machines, cell phones and computers, for example.

It's a tantalizing prospect for those in Fitzsimmons' business. But
not so thrilled are privacy advocates, civil libertarians and even
some airline executives who are seeing their modest idea for speeding
along their best customers burgeoning into a massive commercial
enterprise.

Registered Traveler, now being tested at six airports and poised for
expansion, creates two classes of people at security u those presumed
safe who can be sped through, and those who are unknown and get more
scrutiny. The "safe" get a highly secure, government-approved
biometric ID card that stores images of their fingerprints and irises.

Some of the USA's biggest businesses - Unisys, Lockheed Martin, 
EDS and Microsoft, for example - have shown interest in Registered
Traveler, which could be a gateway to greatly expanded use of
biometric identification. Big business envisions spinning off a
massive new industry that uses biometric cards to verify the identity
of people in all kinds of other contexts - making credit card
purchases or doing anything else in which establishing identity 
is important.

The federal government sees the technology and procedures adopted 
for Registered Traveler as a way to move people more quickly across
borders and into federal buildings, airport tarmacs, pipeline
facilities and other secure sites.

"I would hope that eventually a large number of people find their 
way into a trusted or vetted traveler program," Homeland Security
Secretary Michael Chertoff says.

But a two-tiered security system raises the specter of long lines,
heightened official skepticism and more intense scrutiny for people
who don't have the biometric IDs.

"It's a way of fundamentally changing our culture by making people
suspect if they don't willingly give up their privacy" and apply 
for a card, says American Civil Liberties Union legislative counsel 
Tim Sparapani. "Regular people will become suspect."

[...]

Full article at Raiders News Updates
http://www.raidersnewsupdate.com/lead-story148.htm


Cheers, Steve...

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