Britons to be Scanned for FBI Database
January 9th, 2007And then it was too late…
Via: Guardian:
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.
I feel sorry for the hell ‘my’ (and I use that term very loosely nowadays) government thinks it is necessary to put visitors, travelers, and tourists through. I hate to say this, but I would advise people from civilized countries to stay away from America, at least until such time as she comes to her senses. The US, as a “nation state”, has become a deranged animal, and must be treated as such.