EC plans biometric border checks
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European Commission proposed biometric checks include face screening and automated security checks.
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The European Union's top justice official on Wednesday called for a massive shake-up of the bloc's border security, recommending that all visitors be screened and fingerprinted and a satellite surveillance system be set up to keep illegal migrants out.
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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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In line with data protection laws The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) has published guidance for schools on how to implement biometrics in line with data protection laws.â¦
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The EU is presenting a 'blue card' that would aim to attract skilled workers to Europe and regulate immigration.
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The UK government will store electronic records of people entering the UK in effort to tighten border control.
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The European Commission is to start monitoring China, Ukraine and Russia to see if they are making genuine efforts to stop counterfeit goods.
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A system which allows air passengers to sign up for biometric scanning to speed up their journeys is being unveiled at London's Heathrow Airport.
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Visitors to the US who do not need a visa now have to be fingerprinted and photographed on arrival.
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All UK visa applicants will be fingerprinted as part of new measures being announced to tighten Britain's borders.
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EU ministers meeting in Luxembourg plan moves to integrate their asylum and immigration procedures.
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Border Patrol agents and other federal law enforcement officers can now simultaneously search through two federal fingerprint databases to see if aliens crossing illegally into the United States are wanted by authorities.
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The European Commission is to propose a Blue Card to attract skilled immigrants, and rival the US Green Card.
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The urgent need to reinforce border controls to prevent thousands of illegal immigrants from entering the European Union will be at the top of the agenda when EU justice and interior ministers meet in Brussels on Tuesday. The ministers are expected to agree on measures to strengthen border controls in a bid to reduce the number of illegal entries to the bloc each year, but the question of funding will be paramount to any decisions taken.
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U.S. border guards at busy northern crossings will start fingerprinting foreign visitors entering from Canada by the end of the year, a top official in the Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday.
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Schengen states to share visa data The European Parliament has approved draft proposals for a biometric database to prevent people who are refused a visa by one Schengen country from applying to other member states.â¦
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Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge on Friday called for a new international standard for putting biometric data such as fingerprints on passports, and said the technology could play a vital role in combating terrorism.