[Infowarrior] - Canada: High-tech travel ID 'inevitable'

[Richard Forno]

(c/o PWR)

High-tech travel ID 'inevitable'
The next step in border security is DNA in passports, report warns
Carly Weeks, CanWest News Service
Published: Monday, May 28, 2007
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=6d8beaea-454e-4ace-
a9e2-444823b13d11&k=75853

Canadians will inevitably have to carry travel documents with their DNA,
biometrics or other biological identifiers embedded into them in order to
travel to the United States, according to a new white paper to be revealed
to government officials in Ottawa today.

While many travellers and governments are frantically trying to comply with
current border regulations that require passports for air travel, the report
warns that's just one step in the movement toward more secure borders.

In order to adequately confirm an individual's identity and speed up the
process of screening passengers, governments will surely move to enhanced
identity documents that use biological information to identity travellers,
the paper says.

Already, some jurisdictions, including B.C., are considering imprinting
driver's licences with fingerprints or other biometric features.

"As the world becomes more complex, and as our expectations with respect to
safety and security become greater, governments are going to have to invest
in appropriate [measures] ... in order to make sure that people can move
freely," said Michael Hawes, who will present the paper as executive
director of the Foundation for Educational Exchange between Canada and the
United States of America.

The Ottawa-based group administers the Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program -- a
binational organization funded by both countries that promotes cross-border
research and understanding -- as well as the Network on North American
Studies in Canada, which released the paper to CanWest News Service.

Although some technology, such as DNA-enabled passports, might seem a long
way off, terror threats and other looming risks mean governments must begin
to seriously consider how they will introduce those measures in the future,
Hawes said.

He said the paper clearly directs governments to think about developing
partnerships with the private sector to help implement new technologies,
such as embedding radio frequency identification chips, electronic
fingerprints or DNA into documents.

Already, a biometric screening program, in place at some U.S. airports,
relies on iris and fingerprint scans to identify passengers and quickly move
them through airport security.

The system is seen as a way to significantly reduce lineups and other delays
that have become a major hassle for frequent travellers, and is something
that a coalition of Canadian airlines and airports is asking the federal
government to bring here.

However, the report acknowledges that linking an individual's biological
information contained on travel documents to a government database will
likely stir a major controversy about privacy rights and protecting personal
information.

Earlier this year, new rules came into force that require Canadian air
travellers to show a passport before they're allowed to fly into the U.S.

Soon, Canadians will also have to show passports at land-crossings -- a rule
that is expected to come into force sooner rather than later.

The original deadline was set for January 2009, but officials in both
countries have been pushing for an extension.

Government officials and policy experts from the U.S. Embassy, Department of
Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Canada Border Services
Agency will discuss the paper today in a panel discussion held in Ottawa.

The paper, co-authored by Donald Abelson, chair of political science at the
University of Western Ontario, and Duncan Wood, director of the Canadian
studies at the Instituto Tecnologico Auto-nomo de Mexico in Mexico City, was
sponsored by Accenture, a global management consulting firm whose executive
director will moderate the panel discussion.


© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2007