Starting from the end of 2005, all American passports will be equipped with a contact-less chip (IOL 486) that will permit wireless access of data through new radio frequency technology. So reports Intelligence Online, in a brief piece in their November 5, 2004 issue (N. 487).
The passports will permit border personnel to automatically call up the full identity of the holder along with biometric information. Initially, the biometric data will be photographs, but fingerprints and even the iris of the holder's eye are expected to be included eventually. The reliability of fingerprint identification and the large size of existing data bases of fingerprints make the inclusion of fingerprint information the most likely next step. | Hmmm. Wondering if I feel like renewing my passport a year or three early...not sure if I like the biometrics idea for myself. For everybody else, definitely. But for me personally, I still need to think about it! Heh. |
|