US increases fingerprint IDs at airports
Reuters says that international visitors flying into New York now face being identified by all ten fingerprints, part of a heightened security system aimed at identifying potential terror suspects and visa fraud, officials said.
The upgraded system, part of the US government’s Homeland Security programme and its war on terror, increases the chances of catching illegal or potentially dangerous entrants into the country, officials said at a media briefing at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Wednesday.
The system expands the digital fingerprinting of international visitors to ten fingers from two.
“Quite simply, this change gives our officers a more accurate idea of who is in front of them,” said Paul Morris, an executive director at the US Customs and Border Protection agency. “For those who may pose a risk, we will have greater insight into who they are.”
The added measure came under fire from critics who claim it is not only ineffective but could violate passengers’ privacy.
“As near as I can tell, there has been absolutely no success from this in catching terrorists,” said Bruce Schneier, chief security technology officer at BT Counterpane in Santa Clara, California, who has studied the system.
“The real question of these programmes is, are they the best use of our terrorism dollar,” Schneier said.
Officials announced on Tuesday the system has been added to several entry points at Kennedy and is already in use at airports in Washington, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago and other major US cities.
The upgrade, to be installed at all US ports of entry by September, will cost around $US280 ($NZ351.18) million, according to the US Department of Homeland Security.
The US government has been collecting digital fingerprints and photographs of nearly all non-citizens aged 14 and up entering the country since 2004, officials said, in a Homeland Security programme called US-VISIT, at a cost of $US1.7 billion.
Visitors’ fingerprints are checked against federal criminal and immigration records, and boosting the system will allow authorities to match fingerprints against a larger number on record, US officials said.
On an average day, almost 14,400 international visitors undergo the fingerprinting process at Kennedy, officials said.
More than 2000 criminal and visa fraud cases have been detected by the screening process, introduced in response to security concerns following the attacks of September. 11, 2001, US officials said.
Great Britain has introduced ten-finger scans of visa-carrying foreigners into the country, while Canada and the European Union are working on similar programmes.
A Report by The Mole from Reuters
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