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US Expands Fingerprint and Mugshot Program for Visitors
prakslash writes "The US State Department has expanded its anti-terrorist fingerprinting program to include visitors from close US allies such as the UK, Australia, France, Germany and Japan. Everytime a visitor enters or leaves the US, they will have to get their mugshot and fingerprints taken - something that used to be mainly limited to your local police precinct. More news can be found here and here. In addition to the huge costs involved, one has to wonder if this will affect tourism to this country." Hmmm, a huge database of digital mugshots and digital fingerprints, which will be kept forever - hope we have enough RAM to search through it quickly and constantly.
This can only hurt tourism coming into the states, so Canada will benefit.
That really is my homepage, no kidding.
The EU is planning the exact same measures which will be implemented in 2006. Every country has a right to know who is traversing their borders. You already show a passport, however that is silly since they can be faked easily. People who hold US passports should be fingerprinted too, or have a retinal scan to prove that they are who they say they are. There are no "rights" being lost here. You have no "right" to anonyminity when you enter a country.
Um, fake passports, birthdays and names, maybe?
Fingerprinting is an infrastructure already in place world wide throughout a number of professions, making it an easily shared medium across agencies (hello?) Plus the technology has been tweaked over the last few years to provide a high degree of success in software matching.
I never said it was the end all be all of security, but it is another layer that will undoubtably help in the long run.
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Well, I for one, probably won't go to Java One this year because of this. That's about $10 k out of the San Francisco area economy. Now apply that to all the foriegn visitors for all the conference places like the Moscone Centre host in a year.
All it does is get my identity into a database for a foreign country to use against me. And since I'm not a citizen, I have no right to see how the information is being used or whether it's accurate.
I personally think Canada's security is OK. We'll arrest you when we have the evidence, as we recently did in Ottawa (where I live), not before.
BTW, if you think taking pictures and finger prints is going to increase security, you are living in a dream world. Try reading any of the last 5 or 10 Cryptograms and let Bruce Schneier tell you why it will likely make us less secure.
It an unescesary invasion of my privacy. Having my fingerprints will not help the US deter or track terrorists.
Never by hatred has hatred been appeased, only by kindness - the Buddha
I just flew into SFO (San Francisco International) yesterday from Seoul after a week of business there, and shortly before arrival they announced that for security reasons, everyone had to present their passport as they got off the plane - not for customs, but right at the gate exit.
On my way off the exit ramp, sure enough, there were four very large policemen there inspecting everyone's passports. I heard one say to another "is this the name?" and the other reply "no, it's the last name we need to check." Obviously they suspected someone on some flight from the region of asia my flight came through (another flight connected to mine).
Anyway getting to the point, there were a lot of grumbles about the inconvenience and people worrying about whether it would delay them getting to their next connecting flight. Now, imagine not only just checking the passport, but actually getting fingerprinted and photographed - how much more time would that take? And are they going to use the digital fingerprinters, or old fashioned ink? Then everyone has to wash their hands after?
This is a great way to kill off tourism here. I just love my country sometimes.
I browse Slashdot at +3, Funny
No, they're not.
Japanese alien registration cards used to carry a single fingerprint from your index finger, but that requirement's been lifted now.
Funny how the 'land of the free' is the one intent on ignoring the human rights of foreign visitors, while a country long known for its insularity is getting rid of invasive procedurs, isn't it?
It's not just "close allies", it's "non-Visa" countries - it's a very subtle, but important difference. Perhaps it was just a headline-reader who submitted the story?
You have to be very careful with the "involved" statistic. It counts every accident where any party, at fault or not, had any measurable blood alcohol level. In other words, if a completely sober driver rear-ends someone who had a beer five hours before (say, a 0.01% blood alcohol level), that counts.
It not a "single fucking case". Its one among many its just really well documented and was really over the top. Its pretty fucking amazing you can sit in your easy chair and say its no big deal someone guilty of nothing spent a year being tortured in Syria because our government has decided to suspend the most basic due process. You just don't seem to understand how democracy and the rule of law is supposed to work. Its become quite apparent that terrorist suspects. I repeat >, who don't respond to simple interrogation in the U.S. are being shipped to countries like Saudi Arabia where they can be properly tortured.
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If our government didn't make mistakes and only did this stuff to terrorists maybe you could rationalize it. Fact is they are making mistakes and hurting innocent people.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of people have been wrongfully held since 9/11.
An Egyptian student was staying at a hotel near ground zero on 9/11. A security guard at the hotel framed him, because he was Arab, and accused him of having a radio that could monitor airline frequencies that was found in the hotel. The FBI managed to coerce a confession out of him by threatening to turn his brother over to Egyptian authorties, just like the Syrian case. He admitted it was his radio to protect his family which led to him being a suspected part of the plot. After the confession hit the news the private pilot that actually owned the radio came forward. The FBI's threats were so good they made him confess to something he didn't do.
http://www.cnn.com/2002/LAW/12/13/wtc.pilot.rad
Your missing a basic point. As soon as they started doing it there is nothing stopping them from continuing to do it and doing it more and worse. You really don't want to visit a country, where you can be arrested and held without charges and denied access to your embassy. It is the most basic travelers right. Unfortunately
Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen, has been held without access to a lawyer, his family or any judicial review for a couple years now. He may be guilty of associating with terrorists. If he's guilty of something try him and prove it. Holding him forever without proving anything is simply not what a country based on law does.
http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney01032004.htm
Capt. James Yee, an Islamic Chaplain at Guantanami, was in a military brig in isolation for more than 2 months facing a death penalty charge for espionage. The military destroyed his life and his marriage. Last week they back handedly admitted he wasn't guilty of anything but they aren't going to apologize for destroying his life. During the course of the trial the military's lawyers inadvertently divulged classified documents to the defense team. The military in fact was guilty of what they were accusing Yee of doing. None of the docs he had in his possession were, rightly or wrongly, marked as classified.
http://www.refuseandresist.org/detentions/art.p
Several British citizens held at Guantanamo were likewise just released. Only thing they were guilty of was being in Afghanistan when the war started so they got a couple years in relatively brutal solitary confinement and a series of beatings.
@de_machina
You might find it interesting that although the U.S is indeed the largest spender on aid (though 20 something-th in terms of % of GNP) the lions share goes to just three countries - from the top. Russia, Israel, Egypt. Oh - Pakistan is at number 4.
The new Spanish leader thinks that by removing troops from the middleast his country will be safer. Well they found another bomb on the train tracks today. I hope he realizes that deals cannot be made.
And they also decided to double the number of troops they have in Afghanistan. You remember that one? The country the terrorist actually came from?
-John
Interesting article at this link on the New Scientist website casting doubts on the reliability of finger printing as a way of proving identity.
Fingerprint link
What's the bet that the first Al-Queda terrorist arrested through matching fingerprints turns out to be an 80 year old nun from Canada?
Immigrants under 18 too - my kids green cards have their right index fingerprint and they were 8 & 10 at the time. I don't remember if they were printed for the CIA background checks, but if so, they'd have been even younger.
Why are we so willing to comprimise our rights?
Hey, I thought you guys had freedom of speech? If so, why is it that virtually no USA based media is reporting that an FBI insider, Sibel Edmonds, has said that the Bush administration knew about the 911 attacks before they happened. Apparently your government has used a law to stop this story in the press.
Freedom of speech indeed!
Excuse me?
We foreigners are lucky because we live abroad. If you think you've got civil liberties over there, perhaps you should read up on the civil liberties you (allegedly) had a hundred years ago.
You've got nothing.
Practically all of the terrorists came from Saudi-Arabia.
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As someone else mentioned, the UK has the Data Protection Act (DPA).
The DPA basically states that I can ask any public or private institution for any information they have on me, and they have to give it. With exceptions, if I recall, relating to police investigation and national security.
The DPA also limits what people can do with that information. No passing it on to third parties without permission. No processing the information if I don't want them to. Interesting little things like that.
The UK does have a lot of cameras, but there are also a lot of safeguards. Even if the US had those safeguards, I'm not a US citizen, so I couldn't require them to do anything about it.
The US has started getting a lot better about this, apparently, in the face of quite a few countries that do not allow revokation of citizenship. The new standard is "did you intend to revoke your US citizenship" by doing whatever (for example, getting a new citizenship, including loyalty oath). The standard is that they just ask you, though if you DO wish to revoke it, you should go to the US consulate and tell em that and get it recorded. It's not a bad idea to tell them if you don't, either (though a notarized letter will suffice).
And yes, the reccomended practice is that you use whatever passport is appropriate. If you're in Canada, and have a Canadian citizenship, they have dominion over you as a citizen, what do they care that you're also Syrian or Chinese or American or whatever (for example)?
Lea