Archive for Biometrics
Author: Dave Lewis
April 1, 2008 at 7:52 am · Filed under Biometrics
Love the Gummi Bears. But, in this case it was a little more sophisticated.
From Wired:
To demonstrate why using fingerprints to secure passports is a bad idea, the German hacker group Chaos Computer Club has published what it says is the fingerprint of Wolfgang Schauble, Germany’s interior minister.
According to CCC, the print of Schauble’s index finger was lifted from a water glass that he used during a panel discussion that he participated in last year at a German university. CCC published the print on a piece of plastic inside 4,000 copies of its magazine Die Datenschleuder that readers can use to impersonate the minister to biometric readers.
Several years ago the CCC published a guide to lifting and reproducing fingerprints.
Schauble is a big proponent of the use of fingerprints in passports but is not the CCC’s only target. The group has called for help in obtaining the prints of other German officials, including Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Read on.
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Author: Dave Lewis
March 26, 2008 at 3:27 pm · Filed under Biometrics, Physical Security
The DHS now wants all 10 digits for foreign arrivals. Two fingerprints are apparently not sufficient anymore. Not too long until the probings begin I guess.
From the NY Times:
“This felt like, What else do you want from me?” Mr. Docx continued. “Pretty soon it’ll be a full naked body scan, with my irises and my DNA profile. It makes the honest visitor to America, of which 99.9999 percent coming through here are, feel unwelcome so you guys can catch the 0.0001 percent of people who are a problem.”
Mr. Docx and Mr. Hughes were among the first foreign travelers to undergo the Department of Homeland Security’s new 10-finger screening process, unveiled for the news media on Tuesday.
The system is being tested at nine other major airports in the United States and has been under some form of testing since 2004. It will be reviewed for final approval in December.
The previous Homeland Security system involved the recording of only the left and right index fingers.
If the new system passes muster, it will eventually be introduced almost everywhere there is a Customs officer — some 311 land, air and sea entry points, including those along the Mexico and Canada borders where visitors enter on foot or by automobile.
Officials said that the system would apply to the 80 percent of foreign nationals who are required to carry visas and are between the ages of 14 and 79. Diplomats and a few others are exempt.
I’m all for catching the bad guys. But I have to wonder, at what cost?
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Author: Dave Lewis
January 23, 2008 at 7:24 am · Filed under Biometrics, Politics
The plan to roll out a national ID card for Brits has found itself moved off onto the back burner. The plan which was originally set to roll out in 2010 will now find daylight in 2012 instead according to leaked documents.
From BBC:
The Tories say the ID card scheme is “in the intensive care ward” but the government said the plan had always been to introduce them “incrementally”.
The timetable for ID cards to start being given to UK citizens over 16 has already slipped and the first ones are not expected to start being issued until next year.
From January 2010 everyone getting a passport will have to get an identity card as well, according to existing plans.
The entire idea behind this plan was to curb illegal immigration. But, that will be of little help as it will only be a short amount of time before the crads can be duped.
Home Office documents leaked to the Conservatives set out an illustrated timeline for introducing biometric ID cards.
Biometric ID…hmmm. I know I have seen this movie somewhere before.
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Tags: British National ID, Biometrics, Biometric Cards, ID Cards
Author: Dave Lewis
October 16, 2007 at 12:37 pm · Filed under Biometrics, Privacy
From New Scientist:
Not content with running your computer, Microsoft now wants to read your mind too.
The company says that it is hard to properly evaluate the way people interact with computers since questioning them at the time is distracting and asking questions later may not produce reliable answers. “Human beings are often poor reporters of their own actions,” the company says.
Instead, Microsoft wants to read the data straight from the user’s brain as he or she works away. They plan to do this using electroencephalograms (EEGs) to record electrical signals within the brain.
The actual patent is here.
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Tags: Microsoft Mind Reading, Microsoft EEG Patent, Microsoft Patents
Author: Dave Lewis
October 9, 2007 at 8:29 pm · Filed under Biometrics, Physical Security
Biometrics have found their way into Gatwick airport. They have rolled out a pilot program to check fingerprints for arrivals from Sierra Leone.
The BioDev pilot has been running in the airport’s North Terminal since 18 September and is due to end in April next year.
At present only arrivals from Sierra Leone who have been issued with biometric visas in the capital Freetown will be included in the trial.
A Home Office spokeswoman explained that Sierra Leone was chosen because the main flight into Gatwick from the country arrives at a quiet time with a low number of passengers. This makes it logistically easier for immigration staff to trial the tech. In addition, citizens of Sierra Leone require visas to enter the UK.
On arrival, passengers will have their fingerprints and photos checked against a database by immigration officials, and those attempting illegal entry into the UK will be refused entry.
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Tags: Biometrics, Gatwick Biometrics, Physical Security
