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Dept. of Homeland Security To Test Iris Scanners

Posted by Soulskill on from the eye-for-an-eye dept.

SonicSpike writes "The Homeland Security Department plans to test futuristic iris scan technology that stores digital images of people's eyes in a database and is considered a quicker alternative to fingerprints. The department will run a two-week test in October of commercially sold iris scanners at a Border Patrol station in McAllen, Texas, where they will be used on illegal immigrants, said Arun Vemury, program manager at the department's Science and Technology branch. 'The test will help us determine how viable this is for potential (department) use in the future,' Vemury said."

7 of 221 comments (clear)

  1. !better by mark72005 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Brought to you by all those people who thought this administration would be better than the last.

  2. Already Used In The UK... by pandrijeczko · · Score: 4, Informative

    ...when the damn things are working, anyway!

    A few of our airports have them for inbound passengers, Gatwick in London being one of them.

    I found them quite useful to avoid the customs queues when I flew back into the UK but a lot of that is because so few other people registered to use them. It also took me three or four uses before I'd worked out the optimal positions to look into the mirrors, I would imagine that if a lot of people signed up to use them, it would be slower than going via a human customs officer.

    Plus, as I implied earlier, about 50% of the time they were Out Of Order anyway, so the benefits seem quite negligible.

    --
    Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
    1. Re:Already Used In The UK... by pandrijeczko · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I signed up for IRIS because holding an image of a scan of the back of my eye on a database somewhere seems far less intrusive or harmful than my fingerprints or DNA.

      Not that I have, or ever am likely to, commit a crime ever but an iris scan isn't going to put me at the scene of a crime or give much away to a private health insurance company looking for any excuse to up my premiums.

      Plus the fact that the Data Protection Act over here offers some protection, provided you understand what it does & doesn't do.

      --
      Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
  3. Okay somebody tell me by countertrolling · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How many times have you heard of people leaving their iris prints on a doorknob, or wine glass, or a gun?

    --
    For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
  4. Re:!worse by Shakrai · · Score: 4, Insightful

    its not worse either

    That rather depends on your vantage point, now doesn't it? GWB never tried to tell me that I must buy a product from a for-profit industry.....

    and whats it got to do with this new administration, really?

    Who do you think runs Homeland Security? The underpants gnomes?

    --
    I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
    We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
  5. Re:!worse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What a surprise. You remembered the people killed on 9/11 but you forgot all of the US and allied service-members and innocent civilians killed by the wars.

    Hundreds of thousands have died. Millions have been displaced. And our country's treasury has been raided. I don't think Halliburton caused the wars, but I do know they have conducted themselves as war profiteers. And that is a vile crime.

  6. Re:!worse by shermo · · Score: 5, Funny

    http://4gifs.com/gallery/d/146816-2/Al-Qaeda_USA_Iraq.gif

    --
    Insanity: voting in the same two parties over and over again and expecting different results