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Iris Scanners in Canadian Airports
Ian_Bailey writes "The Toronto Star is reporting that the first biometrics (Iris-scanning specifically) devices in airport will be in place in Toronto and Vancouver starting in March. These devices are meant to speed-up the check-in process for frequent travellers, without compromising security. It is stressed that privacy advocates have nothing to worry about, because they are completely voluntary and cannot be used to scan without a person's knowledge, but there is a brief note about using it in the future for staff."
As far as I know, schiphol airport has had irisscans for a while now. See for example this article
Personally I've no experience with this scanner. Can anyone who tried share thie experience? BTW, could they be beaten by wearing some hacked contact lens (as in cheap action movies)?
This is the funniest signature I could ever think of.
My friend contracted an eye-disease when he used a telescope, one of those peek-a-minute-for-a-quarter machine. We suspected that his eye-lash came in contact with the bacteria left by the previous patient.
His red-eye recovered in a week after medication.
Precisely my thought. Allow me to attempt to say the same thing in a different way:
Driving is a privilige, not a right. Therefore, living without a car should be a perfectly viable situation to be in. Yet think of it, who doesn't have a car? Few people. Cars have become a necessity, and the government can now use our dependency on them to manipulate us.
Do you have taxes due? No problem, we'll just take away your license until you pay up! Back around the early 20th century; if they did that, you'd be a little bummed, but you'd live, because society hadn't yet come to "assume" that everyone owned a car. You could still walk anywhere you needed to go.
But now, try living without a car. It's the same with credit cards. Checking accounts. Try living without a checking account, I have for the last few years (ChexSystems sucks!), and it's damn hard!!! Try it yourself, for a month, try living without a checking account. Pay $50 each paycheck just to cash it! Buy money orders to pay your bills. No more card-swiping at the pump, you hafta go INSIDE to pay for your gas (and then inside again, to collect your change).
The "completely voluntary" excuse is an excellent way to sneak something in, in plain view of everybody, without raising many objections. Then, make it easier and easier for people to use the offending system, and make it harder and hard to use the older system. The only drawback for the government is that it takes a bit longer to solidify into "completely involuntary".
You can run but you can't hide, except, apparently, along the Afghan-Pakistani border.
I can hardly believe this... Presumably the machine uses some private key, but once that is hacked, people could create their own cards... it would be as secure as a black&white passport on plain paper: everyone could print their own on their laserprinter at home.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
And unfortunately, it is only available for citizens of the EU--as a US expat, I'm stuck in line watching with envy those lucky enough to have 5 second processing times going through customs. This is not a small problem when you're passing through Schipol at least once a week.
These devices, in conjunction with the automated checkin kiosks make flight travel almost tolerable again...