[Infowarrior] - Britons to be scanned for FBI database

[Richard Forno]

Britons to be scanned for FBI database

Paul Harris in New York, Jamie Doward and Paul Gallagher
Sunday January 7, 2007
The Observer
http://www.guardian.co.uk/humanrights/story/0,,1984650,00.html

Millions of Britons who visit the United States are to have their
fingerprints stored on the FBI database alongside those of criminals, in a
move that has outraged civil rights groups.

The Observer has established that under new plans to combat terrorism, the
US government will demand that visitors have all 10 fingers scanned when
they enter the country. The information will be shared with intelligence
agencies, including the FBI, with no restrictions on their international
use.

US airport scanners now take only two fingerprints from travellers. The move
to 10 allows the information to be compatible with the FBI database.

'We are going to start testing at several airports,' a Department of
Homeland Security spokeswoman confirmed. 'It will begin some time this
summer.'

Sources said 10 airports would initially be involved. The scheme will cover
most of the major airports frequently used by British travellers, including
New York, Washington and Miami. Countries subject to the new scheme include
Britain, other European Union nations, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

Last night the British civil rights group Liberty expressed astonishment at
the plan, which will affect four million British travellers to the US. 'This
must be the Keystone Cops school of border control,' said Shami Chakrabarti,
director of Liberty. 'Accumulating the fingerprints of millions of innocent
passengers will not deter would-be suicide bombers.'

Security experts warned the scale of the scheme might jeopardise its
success. 'This maniacal proposal will turn thousands of law-abiding British
travellers into terrorist suspects,' said Simon Davies, head of Privacy
International, a campaign against intrusive surveillance.

'The technology at US airports will be far less reliable. That means anyone
could be the victim of a false match, Davies said. 'Be warned. A San
Francisco Bay family holiday may easily become a nightmare.'

He predicted that airport queues would treble as a result of the scheme.
'Taking fingerprints is a delicate and complex undertaking that can't be
rushed to keep queues short,' he said.

A recent report by the civil liberties group Statewatch highlighted a
Japanese study that tested 15 biometric systems and found 11 of them failed
to detect 'false' fingerprints were being used in the form of a latex strip
covering a person's fingers.

Britons already have their credit card details and email accounts inspected
by the American authorities following a deal between the EU and the
Department of Homeland Security. Now passengers face having all their credit
card transactions traced when using one to book a flight. And travellers
giving an email address to an airline will be open to having all messages
they send and receive from that address scrutinised.

The demands were disclosed in 'undertakings' given by the Department of
Homeland Security to the EU and published by the Department for Transport
after a request under the freedom of information legislation.

In America, the 10-digit fingerprint plan has sparked concern among civil
rights groups, which accuse the government of using the excuse of terrorism
to expand its ability to monitor individuals. The scheme uses an electronic
scanner. Fingerprint information is then fed into a Department of Homeland
Security database that stores material from domestic security organisations
such as the FBI, as well as international bodies like Interpol. It already
holds 71 million fingerprints and is growing.

'This is about stopping crime and about national security after 9/11,' the
Homeland Security spokeswoman said. 'The reason for 10-digit fingerprints is
that it is more secure than the two-digit system, and the 10-digit system is
becoming the international standard.'

The spokeswoman said she was confident the new procedure would not deter
people from visiting the US. 'That is what people said when we introduced
the two-digit system,' she said. 'But that is not what happened.'

She added the reason the scheme was to run in just 10 airports initially was
to ensure its smooth operation before it became standard at all US airports,
major ports of entry and consulates abroad. The Department of Homeland
Security aims to have the new system in place across the US by the end of
2008.

In a speech at a technology conference Michael Chertoff, the Secretary of
Homeland Security, said the main aim was to deter 'the unknown terrorist'.

It could pick up on fingerprints left at terrorist sites around the world.
'A fingerprint that is left... in the training camp or in the safe house is,
in fact, a powerful tool.' He added that he hoped the system would deter any
terrorists from ever trying to enter the US. 'We will have a world in which
any terrorist who has ever been in a safe house or has ever been in a
training camp is going to ask himself or herself this question: have I ever
left a fingerprint anywhere?' Chertoff said.