Northwest Airlines Wants Eye-Scan Check-in

Headius writes: "According to the Associated Press, Northwest Airlines is testing out a check-in system that uses eye scans to identify customers, and provide a faster way to check in. The article is here locally, and probably making its way to other news sites as well." Bruce Schneier posted a while ago this neat summary of some of the limitations of biometrics, worth re-reading. One question I have, how long will you eyes stay on record?

Comments

And this would prove what?

[nurb432]

All it would do is be more invasive into our lives..

Wont prevent a damned thing, unless your ticket is stolen..

Ya know, most HIjackers do buy their tickets, and show proper ID at the gate..

I assume...

[ceejayoz]

I assume they scan your eyes first time, and it stays in their database forever. It'd be rather useless if they scanned you, then got rid of the record, since the point is to let trusted passengers go through.

Seems to me the major problem is that a terrorist need only establish themself as "trusted" - fly on a few flights without problems, be nice and courteous and look non-suspicious. Once you're trusted you've got essentially free range - just walk through with only an eye scan.

Boom.

Re:I assume...

[foo_48120]

I encourage people to write to their website in protest. This will only make it more expensive to travel and not add any security at all. Mineta won't allo the pilots, mostly former military, to have real guns.

Personally I would pass out Glocks at the door to anyone willing to take one. Just like folks are asked aboout sitting in the emergency exits.

An armed air society is a polite one.

Here are my comments to then:

I am writing in response to an AP article tha NWA wishes to use biometrics on passengers.

As an IT professional and a privacy advocate, I am strongly opposed to plans to implement human biometrices for passenger check ins.

In fact if NWA goes ahead with its plans to use biometrics I will do anything and everything possible to not patronize NWA personally or through any of the companies that I control or participate in.

This is a patently silly idea. It offeres no security advantage whatsoever. Why doesn't NWA work on securing the 802.11b wireless networks in use to ensure that passenger bags match the passenger manifests? Such networks are known to be susceptible to hacking and can be an entry point into the system to tamper with passenger and baggage records.

There is no need for additional id requirements over and above the current requirements for a government issued photo id.

If the biometrics kept on the card, then the cards themselves are subject to tamper. If the biometrics are kept online then we have a whole new world of private company privacy invasion. Moreover it would still be possible to tamper with and evade such a system.

Even proposed facial recognition systems applied to a large population will yield a substantial amount of false positives.

Since these terrorists are adept at manipulating systems and people, it is unlikely that the next group will be in anyones database.

How many grey haired grannies and grandpas are we willing to subject to close body searches in the name of political correctness?

In the end, biometrices add zero security at great cost to personal privacy and muliple millions in excessive costs passed on to consumers.

Anyone believing in biometrics would do well to refer to the writings of Douglas Adams who posited that once we had all been poked and prodded enough for DNA samples and the like we would put all that information into a universal identity card which of course makes it incredibly easy to steal someone else's identity.

Snce you guys want to be Big Brother you can look up my Frequent Flyer number yourself.

David Sussman
dsussman@earthlink.net

# Northwest Wants Eye-Scan Check-Ins Airline Seeks Approval For Test

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(AP) (EAGAN, Minn.) Jun 20, 2002 1:11 pm US/Central
Northwest Airlines wants to test a check-in system that uses cards with encrypted eye scans.

Northwest and other major carriers plan to ask the Transportation Security Administration next month for permission to test the system.

A company official said Northwest hopes that the system will give its frequent flyers a faster way to get through security.

If it is approved, Northwest will use its employees to start the pilot program by this fall at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

If the pilot program succeeds, Northwest would expand it to customers and implement it at other hubs in Detroit and Memphis, then elsewhere.

Privacy advocates have raised warnings about identity card systems, saying that the government would need to safeguard personal data and maintaining that existing technologies are not foolproof.

(© 2002 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

A progression?

[mindstrm]

I mean, if airlines wan't increased security of any sort.. people tend to agree, or at least not too strongly disagree, after all, we need our airplanes to be safe, right? Oh wait, yeah, except for the terrible incidents on Sept. 11th, THEY ARE. And it's not likely something of that nature could happen again.
Those animals didn't use guns or weapons smuggled onboard, they weren't some kind of secret spy martial arts experts...
They just used fear.

My problem is this: Flying is a needed method of travel. You can't very well avoid it if you have to travel. So, let's see.. I have a right to privacy as long as I don't want to travel anywhere?

It doesn't add up. If things like this keep happening, eventually it will be on trains, city busses, and tollbooths on our highways.

WHO I AM is not important when I travel on an airplane. Whether or not I'm carrying weapons, bombs, that is important.

Re:A progression?

[ceejayoz]

WHO I AM is not important when I travel on an airplane. Whether or not I'm carrying weapons, bombs, that is important.

So we should let anyone on the CIA watchlist into the country, as long as they aren't carrying weapons? I think I'd rather know that we at least know who's flying around in planes.

I mean, if airlines wan't increased security of any sort.. people tend to agree, or at least not too strongly disagree, after all, we need our airplanes to be safe, right? Oh wait, yeah, except for the terrible incidents on Sept. 11th, THEY ARE. And it's not likely something of that nature could happen again. Those animals didn't use guns or weapons smuggled onboard, they weren't some kind of secret spy martial arts experts... They just used fear.

Exactly. Five people aren't going to be able to hijack a plane with boxcutters anymore - the passengers will mob them. Before Sept 11, the flight crew was trained to do what they said and get the plane on the ground. That's why Sept 11 happened - we really didn't expect a suicide bombing with airplanes. Now we know better, and it won't happen again.

We'd be much better off making OTHER stuff more secure - like our ports. How long until a container ship comes in carrying a nuclear weapon? How long until someone lets off smallpox in the US? :-/

How is this going to speed up security?

[mindstrm]

it says a faster way for it's frequent flyers to get through security.

Last time I flew on an airline...
I a) Walked to the security gate (X-ray machine, metal detector, etcetera). I put my carryon bags in the machine, walked through the detector, which beeped. A girl waved a wand around to verify that it was my belt buckle that set off the detector, I grabbed my bags, and went on my way.

How, exactly, is having me do an eye scan going to speed up my going through security? They can't be permitting anyone into the secure area without going through this process.. can they? If they are, that makes security WORSE, not better. But there's now ay they are doing that..

So how is this going to make it 'more secure'.. given that you shouldn't have to identify yourslef to fly anyway?

Re:Will it work?

[nuggz]

Weapons on a plane are dangerous, you have thousands of lbs of fuel all over the place, control wires and computers all over and a pressure sealed cabin. An errant bullet could be catastropic. Soldiers aren't a magical toy that makes everything bad go away.
Any fight in a confined area becomes very lethal very fast. Currently if there is a distirbance without weapons, other passengers may subdue the offender, bumps bruises, no deaths.
With weapons, you will get serious injuries or deaths from the same incident.
On a longer flights (10+ hours) you want the pilots not to eat, drink or go to the bathroom? This just isn't practical.

not even as useful as fingerprint scanners

[YrWrstNtmr]

With fingerprints, at least you get 9 more tries after the database gets hacked. With retina scanning, you only get one reset.

Re:Will it work?

[YrWrstNtmr]

If we were to allow concealed-carry permit holders to travel with their weapons, the terrorists will have no way of knowing who's armed on a given flight.

How many people routinely carry their weapons? 2% of the population? On a hundred person flight, you will then assume 2 people.
The terrorist group just has to load up one particular flight with 4 or 5 armed hijackers. It them becomes a 5-2 fight. Looks like good odds for the bad guys. Add to that the advantages of time selection and choice of location. Then have 2 of the group hold back, until the civilian CCW's identify themselves, and pop...no more threat from the passengers.

Allow firearms among the passengers, and the terrorists will bring them as well. And they WILL have the advantage.

Better question: How do you change your eye?

[Kindaian]

After your biometric records become compromised (there will be ways, everyone can be sure of it!) how can you change your eyes?

When a password is compromised, you can change it at will... You can even deactivate the user login and create a fresh and diferent one...

With biometrics... you are doomed to keep or have your records linked... because you can't change biometrics!

Cheers...

At What Stage Are These Used?

[bug506]

Does anyone know at what stage of the checkin process this retinal scanning will actually be used? The story didn't mention that at all, and I couldn't find the press release on Northwest's site. I find it hard to believe they would allow you into the secure area without going through the machines, which would mean that this doesn't affect security at all.

I remember some time ago talk of using retinal scans for making it easier for people to get through customs, but that was to enter the country after they've already traveled.

As for Northwest's checkin and security, they're one of the only airlines (if not the only) to allow you to print your own boarding pass at home off the web. (https://webx25.nwa.com/cki-bin/cki.pro?loadactiva tetrans)

I love this feature and use it all the time--if I have no luggage to check, I can get all the way to the gate without talking to anyone from the airline. At first, I was amazed they continued doing this after the attacks, but then I realized I still have to show ID when I'm about to board anyway--it's no less secure than if I had checked-in the traditional way and shown my ID when getting my boarding pass.

(The best part of this process I don't want many people to realize, but I'll share it with the rest of slashdot... since you are actually checking in, you can grab seats that are held until checkin time; if you do this as early as possible--30 hours in advance--you almost always get first choice of seats that are at the very front of coach.)