Ridge Says U.S., EU Should Pioneer Biometrics

[Khephra]

Ridge Says U.S., EU Should Pioneer Biometrics
Wed October 29, 2003 10:35 AM ET

(Page 1 of 2)
By Mark Trevelyan, Security Correspondent

BERLIN (Reuters) - The United States and the European Union should lead the world in setting international standards for biometrics such as facial recognition technology, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Wednesday.

Ridge said agreement between America and Europe on ways to combine fingerprints and facial recognition in travel documents could lead to a global standard. "First principle: trans-Atlantic agreement, U.S.-European Union agreement, leads the international discussion," Ridge told a news conference after meeting German Interior Minister Otto Schily in Berlin.

"I think the effort is to consolidate, harmonize the agreement between ourselves and then take it out to the rest of the world."

Schily told journalists: "We share the conviction that if different states work with varying standards, that will lead to confusion and make worldwide travel considerably harder."

more..............

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=2LWQ10PH31VMQCRBAE0CFFA?type=topNews&storyID=3714875

[w13rd0]

1. I deploy biometric solutions...

...and I'd never trust my civil liberties to them. It's a great way to keep the records of addle-minded CEOs secure, rather than asking them to adopt new complex alphanumeric passes every 30 days, but no way in hell would I consent to trusting my rights to biometrics.

[ixion]

2. Tom Ridge: facist scum.

biometrics are a violation of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights...oh yeah, I forgot, no one seems to give a damn about those documents any more. :-(

[malachi]

3. Tom Ridge too stupid to be a facist but,

I agree wholeheartedly on the scum part.

[Paschall]

4. OT - Kef

If you cut the semicolon and "session data" out of your link, it won't break.

Like this (leave the question mark before the variable):

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3714875

[Khephra]

7. Thanks! I'll make a note of that from now on!

:hi:

:-)

[Voltaire99]

5. Not sure facial recognition tech is advanced enough

Can it recognize the two faces of our politicians?

[PATRICK]

6. Yes, with training

Getting a computer to discern like a trained observer can also be used against the people who would naturally abuse such power. The trouble is the people want or expect lies from above. Take it but will not dish it out. I doubt any computer can be better than the the best human agent and operates mostly under the confidence system of the lie detector and the sign on the door: "Beware of Dog".

Also, as with amateur terrorists blundering with computers leaving wide information trails they can learn how to mask themselves. So by Darwinian selction, only the best trained terrorists will survive(mostly state sponsored as stands to reason) and a lot more schmoes will get rousted while the pall of fear under the Eye becomes an inescapable presence in the social psyche.

[dArKeR]

8. Visa applicants to U.S. to face biometric tests

Seeking to plug a hole in the nation's border control system, the Homeland Security Department on Tuesday showed off its new entry-exit program for foreign visitors that uses biometric information - fingerprints and photographs - to establish identities.

The new system is intended to repair a flaw that allowed visitors to the U.S. to stay long past their visas' expiration - a flaw exploited by the 9/11 terrorists.

Starting January 5, all visitors requiring visas by the U.S. because of their nationalities will have their fingerprints electronically scanned and digital photos taken and entered into the system. The new U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology, or U.S. VISIT, is scheduled to be in place at the nation's major airports and seaports, including Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, by the end of this year.

http://www.etaiwannews.com/World/2003/10/30/1067477357.htm