Homeland Security to press ahead with Real ID
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Department plans to release new rules Friday that would reportedly delay onset of controversial requirements and cut costs to states. Will critics be satisfied?
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The State Departmentâs rollout of technology to capture biometric data from visa applicants has progressed more quickly than expected and the department will meet its Sept.
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The DHS chief reveals how he'll turn state driver's licenses into internal passports. By Ryan Singel.
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More than three years after the United States was stunned by terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, its much-vaunted homeland security is still a work in progress.
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The Transportation Security Administration announced on Tuesday that it will order domestic airlines to turn over personal information about passengers to test a system that will compare their names to those on terrorist watch lists.
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New rules for the types of identification U.S. or Canadian citizens must present to cross into the country shouldn't cause significant delays and won't be strictly enforced at first, a senior federal official said.
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Top official suggests more "secure" IDs envisioned by controversial law will help pharmacies to ferret out customers buying over-the-counter ingredients to concoct the drug.
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The Department of Homeland Security is testing a data-mining program that would attempt to spot terrorists by combing vast amounts of information about average Americans, such as flight and hotel reservations. Similar to a Pentagon program killed by Congress in 2003 over concerns about civil liberties, the new program could take effect as soon as next year....
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SEPTEMBER 15, 2004  - SAN MATEO, Calif. -- The Department of Homeland Security is actively planning several new pilot projects that officials hope will help solve one of the most pressing cybersecurity
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New identity checks are to be introduced to safeguard homeowners against property fraud.
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(InfoWorld) - Germany will store digital fingerprints in addition to digital photos in passports as one of several biometric security measures planned toÂ fight organized crime and international terrorism. All new passports issued from November will store two digital fingerprints in an embedded chip, which, since 2005, includes a digital photo, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior said Friday. While fingerprints will be stored exclusively in passport chips, photos will continue to be saved additionally in databases of local authorities. A new amendment gives police and other authorized government officials online access to these databases. Unlike several other countries in Europe and abroad, Germany has no central database for photos or fingerprints of all citizens or for registered foreigners living in the country, and currently lacks plans to establish one, according to a ministry spokeswoman. Centralized data, including photos and fingerprints, exists only for people registered with the police for criminal activity, and for applicants for German visas. Only readers equipped with a new cryptographic protocol can read the passports including both photos and fingerprints. The Extended Access Control system connects the chip and the reader by establishing a secure communications channel over a distance of 10 centimeters to 20 centimeters. Moves by the German government to digitize increased levels of personal data and link databases among authorities have led to an outcry by some groups, including federal and state data privacy commissioners. At a meeting in DÃ¼sseldorf on Friday, the commissioners criticized the government's programs that amass personal data, including telephone records, and its plans to give greater power to police officials to monitor terrorists and other criminals online by allowing them to hack into computers. In 2008, the German government plans new ID cards for all citizens with the same biometric features, according to the spokeswoman. "There are three primary reasons to issue biometric ID cards: to avoid false IDs, strengthen the identification process and also offer an authorization possibility for services such as online purchases," she said. By 2010, Germany hopes to have a new central database containing core data about each citizen and registered inhabitant of the country, according to the spokeswoman. The data includes name, birthday and address but will not contain a photo or fingerprints, she said. In February, the government passed a law allowing security officials in the country to create theÂ largest and most comprehensive pool of personal dataÂ ever amassed in the country. The databases of nearly 40 different agencies, including the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), are now being linked to allow authorities to run searches on suspected individuals and retrieve information within minutes. An expanded index file is being created for suspected terrorists. The file will contain the person's name, bank account number, telephone number, e-mail address, driver's license information and other data, including the names of companies, organizations and other parties associated with the person and linked to terrorist groups. Since the start of this week, law enforcement officials in Germany and Austria have electronic access to each other's criminal fingerprint databases. Since 2006, the countries have shared their DNA databases as one of several measures agreed by some European Union nations under the Treaty of PrÃ¼m in 2005. Â
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A controversial new government program requiring residents to obtain digital identification cards will be delayed to help cash-strapped states implement the plan, federal officials said on Friday.
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Visitors could face digital fingerprinting at airports under plans to beef up border security
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A new Homeland Security program aims to analyze existing, legally collected computer data, not gather new personal information on U.S. citizens, Secretary Michael Chertoff said Friday in defending the program from congressional critics.
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Help may be on the way to deal with the backlog of unprocessed passport requests. Legislation passed Monday by the House would make it easier for the State Department to rehire retired personnel to pitch in.
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(InfoWorld) - The U.K. is delaying the start of the procurement process for the IT systems that will eventually issue ID cards for an estimated 50 million U.K. citizens over the next decade. A "major" procurement process was set to begin, but "we're not quite ready yet," said James Hall, chief executive of the U.K. Identity and Passport Service, which is in charge of the ID card project. Hall spoke Monday at the Gartner Inc. identity management conference in London. Hall did not say when procurement would start. The delay confirmsÂ doubts that surfaced a year ago about whether the ID card project could be kept on the government's schedule. A leaked memo released about year ago written by an official in Prime Minister's Tony Blair government outlined ongoing worries about whether the first ID cards could be delivered by 2008, in keeping with the government's schedule. The memo cited concerns over procurement, costs and program management. The U.K. government has several large IT projects under way, including a massive IT revamp of its National Health Service (NHS), which has also fallen under criticism for delays and difficulties with suppliers. The ID card program will cost an estimated Â£5.4 billion (US$10.6 billion), according to the Home Office. Once the ID card project is under way, the U.K. government will issue cards to citizens as they apply for a new passport. The ID card program met wide opposition over privacy concerns, but the government hopes the cards will enhance national security, reduce benefits fraud and strengthen immigration controls. The cards will be issued to those over 16 years old. Hall said it's hoped that businesses will embrace the national ID card as a form of identity, as long as it meets its goals of security and privacy. Hall, a 30-year veteran of Accenture Ltd., admitted he was initially a "skeptic" of the ID project at first, but now is a "passionate believer." "If we get this right, we can actually deliver some huge benefits," Hall said. Â
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Officials from New Jersey and California say life will be easier when we all get government-issued cards mandated by the Real ID Act. Ryan Singel reports from the RSA Conference.