U.S. Biometric Passports By Late 2004

truthsearch writes "The Register is reporting 'Current plans call for the new passport books to include a contactless smart chip based on the 14443 standard, with a minimum of 32 Kbytes of EEPROM storage. The chip will contain a compressed full-face image for use as a biometric. European biometric passports, by contrast, are planned to feature both retinal and fingerprint recognition biometrics on their smart cards.' How they tie this to '9/11 fears' is curious considering the hijackers had valid paperwork."

Comments

Privacy...

[__aaklbk2114]

Excuse me, whoever posted this story forgot to add the following line somewhere in the summary:

"The privacy implications here are worrying, and this sets a bad precedent, IMO."

Slashdot editors, please make this correction immediatly.

*phew*

[revmoo]

Well, I don't know about you guys but I feel so much SAFER now!!

Now our fears of terrorism are answered, I can now sleep well at night again.

God bless America!

Better than DNA Matching

[Gefiltefish11]

Better to match on appearance than somethning more insidious and Ashcroftian (look mom, I made a new word!)...

Please bleed in the cup, Mr. Anderson. We need to match your DNA to this passport.

challenge?

[r_orourke]

"With this approach "you can read a chip and confirm its validity, but you cannot create one." said Moss.

What is that? A challenge?

Bio "Metrics"

[Anonymous Coward]

Makes sense for Europe. We'd have to coin a new phrase for our system here in America. Something that denotes that it's base 12...

Welcome..

[grub]

Welcome to the United State of America. Allow the nice lady at the counter to take your picture, retinal scan, fingerprints, blood sample, stool sample, urine sample, hair follicle, oral swab. After that please check one of the two YES or NO boxes next to "I AM A TERRORIST" statement.

It's you!

[verloren]

So now the immigration officials can state with absolute authority:

"It's definitely you. I don't know who you are, or why you're here, but you're definitely you."

Great.

Cheers, Paul

The Terrorist Bit

[Myriad]

The chip will contain a compressed full-face image for use as a biometric. European biometric passports, by contrast, are planned to feature both retinal and fingerprint recognition biometrics on their smart cards.

What the article fails to mention is the most important aspect of the new design: the Terrorist Bit.

As the above biometrics only help to ascertain that you are you, it was felt an added feature to easily separate the terrorists from the regular population was necessary.

As such on the application form for your new passport will be a Terrorist checkbox. When the application is processed the Terrorist Bit is set accordingly.

The bit may also be set at anytime by authorized representatives of the US Gov't such as the RIAA, and MPAA. In addition undercover officers looking for any Anti-American expressions or beliefs - including privacy advocates, anti-war activists, free software advocates, alternative energy supporters, and anyone generally disagreeing with the supreme-leader-of-free-nations, George W Bush.

To ensure your security is of the highest order, each passport will include a unique license, the continuation of which requires an annual subscription fee. This license guarentees that no illegal copies of your passport can be made, its likeness replicated, or your identity compromised. The exact nature of the security measures taken are restricted for National Security reasons.

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