Let's see now. REAL ID Card is going international (what a surprise), will
cost $250 +/- to replace driver's license( I got that one right too),
passports with RFID chips (the biometry sucks so the card is insecure) and
it fails 30% of the time. And now a Trusted Traveller Card (of course you
have to give up all your personal info to get one) so they don't mistaken
you for a terrorist like Cat Stevens.
So much for "rapid processing".
On Sat, 28 May 2005 03:32:23 +1200, Geoff Blackmore wrote:
> US wants to be able to access Britons' ID cards
>
> 27.05.05 1.00pm
>
> by Kim Sengupta
>
> The United States wants Britain's proposed identity cards to have the same
> microchip and technology as the ones used on American documents.
>
> The aim of getting the same microchip is to ensure compatability in
> screening terrorist suspects. But it will also mean that information
> contained in the British cards can be accessed across the Atlantic.
>
> Michael Chertoff, the newly appointed US Secretary for Homeland Security,
> has already had talks with the UK Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, and the
> Transport Secretary, Alistair Darling, to discuss the matter.
>
> Mr Chertoff said yesterday that it was vital to seek compatibility, holding
> up the example of the "video war" of 25 years ago, when VHS and Betamax were
> in fierce competition to win the status of industry standard for video
> recording systems.
>
> "I certainly hope we have the same chip... It would be very bad if we all
> invested huge amounts of money in biometric systems and they didn't work
> with each other. Hopefully, we are not going to do VHS and Betamax with our
> chips. I was one of the ones who bought Betamax, and that's now in the
> garbage," he said.
>
> Mr Chertoff also proposed that British citizens wishing to visit the US
> should consider entering a "Trusted Traveller" scheme. Under this, they
> would forward their details to the US embassy to be vetted. If successful,
> they would receive a document allowing "fast- tracking" through the US
> immigration system.
>
> A pilot scheme will start within a few months between the US and the
> Netherlands, allowing Dutch visitors to use a Trusted Traveller card to
> enter the US without being subjected to further questioning or screening.
>
> Britain is one of 27 countries whose citizens do not need visas to enter the
> US if they intend to stay less than 90 days. The American government has
> said it wants 27 to issue new passports by 26 October this year containing a
> computer chip and a digital photograph.
>
> Mr Chertoff said compatability and the checking system was intended purely
> to track down "terrorists and criminals" and the main aim was to provide a
> "fair and reasonable system".
>
> US diplomatic sources stated later that Washington did not wish to interfere
> in the domestic affairs of other countries.
>
> "When we screen based on names, we're screening on the most primitive and
> least technological basis of identification - it's the most susceptible to
> misspelling, or people changing their identity, or fraud," he said.
>
> The scheme will also, say diplomats, ease confusion over who exactly
> constitutes a suspect. The most high-profile case was that of Yusuf Islam,
> the singer formerly known as Cat Stevens, who was barred from entering the
> US because his activities "could be potentially linked to terrorism".
>
> The British government is insistent that Mr Islam had no such links.
> However, this is the latest controversy to surround Britain's proposed
> combined identity card and passport due to be introduced in three years'
> time.
>
> Rising costs have pushed the cost up to £93 ($238) each after the overall
> estimated 10-year cost of the project grew from £3.1bn to £ 5.8 bn.
>
> There have also been problems over the effectiveness of the biometric
> technology which is supposed to safeguard the security of the cards. There
> were also verification problems with 30 per cent of those whose fingerprint
> was taken duringan enrolment trial of 10,000 volunteers.
>
> - INDEPENDENT |