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Use of Biometrics
Continues to Spread
K-House eNews for February 17, 2004 http://www.khouse.org After the September 11, 2001 attacks, the United States passed legislation that requires visitors from 27 countries to have biometric information, such as fingerprints or iris scan data, included in passports issued after Oct. 26, 2004 in order to avoid applying for a visa. Many countries have been stepping up to include biometric information in not only the passports they issue, but also in driver's licenses and national identity cards. Denmark decided last year to include biometric information in its passports starting in 2004, and is now ordering 3 million to be made by the Finnish technology group Setec. The order is the first one to be made for documents that meet up to the requirements made by the International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO and which fulfill U.S. conditions. Passport holders will not need to update, however, until their current documents expire. At the airport in Frankfurt, Germany, EU and Swiss citizens can now apply to pass through security quickly by submitting to a simple 3-second eye scan. Applicants must register at the airport to put their iris scan on file, go through a background check and obtain a machine-readable passport. Once accepted, these travelers will still need to pass through security stations, but will be able to avoid the longer lines of conventional passport checks. Spain is planning to introduce electronic ID cards that will enable holders to do secure business online and confirm their identities through a digital signature that would be as legally binding as a normal, ink-and-paper signature. A pilot program will test the ID card system through 2004, at which time Spain hopes to fully implement the program. The ID cards will look like Spain's current ID cards, but will include a chip that contains added information. "In principle the aim is that it is a single card that we could use in future for (anything) from public administration to, if it were possible, getting money out of a cash machine," said Spain's Foreign Minister Ana Palacio. While biometrics seems to be a good way to authenticate identities, many are concerned that, like any other system, cheaters could still prosper. Bill Perry, of the UK's Association for Biometrics, said variables like lighting and body temperature can affect the accuracy of iris scans. Simon Davies, an expert in information systems at the London School of Economics and director of Privacy International, contends that some people would be able to obtain several cards under different names because the systems are not 100% accurate. One scan might bring up several matching results. In a large database of millions of people, one scan might bring up thousands of matches. Governments will continue to seek out more precise and fool proof means of identifying both their citizens and the citizens of other countries in the name of security. Those with privacy concerns wonder if there will come a day when neither criminals nor honest people will have a place to hide. Letter to the Editor I'm sorry that it has taken me so long after the fact to right this, but my notes are often incomplete. However, two or three issues back (I seem to have misplaced the issue while I was moving), Sir John the Generous (I think) suggested that the reason for the age of consent laws in the states was something of a footnote for the age of emancipation laws [November 2003, page 3, letter from Sir James the Bold]. I have to wonder, has he ever even read the various statutes and case laws? For one thing, the age of consent varies from state to state. In some states, the age of consent is determined at early puberty, between 13 and 14 years old. In other states, it can be as high as 18 or 19 years old. In West's CRSA §§ 18-3-405(1), 18-3-406(2) it states that the "Purpose underlying crime of statutory rape under the common law was to protect morals of children from consequences of acts that they were not able to comprehend." In the case of Cross v. People 1950, 223 P.2d 202, 122 Colo. 469, the court stated that "In determining accused's guilt of statutory offense of taking immodest, immoral, and indecent liberties with person of child under 16 years old, child's consent or nonconsent to acts charged is immaterial, as prime object of statute is to protect morals of youth by punishing those committing acts tending to corrupt such morals." money orders, or PayPal payments, please inquire.
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Acknowledgments My thanks to the following: Sir James the Bold, Sir John the Generous, SantaClara Bob, Joseph, of Northridge, California, The Thought, of Glendale, Arizona, and Lady Jan the Voluptuous. — editor
Buck Hunter Shoots Off His Mouth
— Embarrassed
Dear Embarrassed No. I'm not a tailor. I've never even made a handkerchief. Call to 911
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