Report - Guardian

56 The LSE Identity Project Report: June 2005I think one of my recommendations to Mike is be aggressive, go afterten fingerprints on the passport. It’s a lot easier to negotiate with yourallies if you’ve already done what you're asking them to do.” 100The Department of State resisted, and succeeded only in collecting digital photographs.When Secretary Michael Chertoff, Ridge’s successor, gave a speech on the same topicto the same institution months later, he made no call for fingerprinting Americans,although he argued for expanding the practice for foreigners. 101While the US is photographing and fingerprinting all visitors under the US-VISITprogram, it has decided against fingerprinting and iris-scanning its own citizens. Thisdifference will be further emphasised in the future if the UK does implement an IdentityCard. The US Department of Homeland Security has already appealed to the UKregarding its identity card: in May 2005, the Secretary Chertoff requested that the UKdesign its identity card to be consistent with the US standard on passports in order topermit the US to gain access to the data on the National Identity Register. 102 There will,however, be no reciprocity from the US Government because there is no such centralregister of personal information on Americans.Meanwhile, some countries are going ahead with adding biometrics that may never beverified by other countries. New Zealand is planning to issue biometric passports byAugust 2005 and the chip on the passport will likely include a digital photo, and ‘eyecoordinates’. 103 Few other countries are implementing iris-scanning at their borders,thus it appears unlikely that border officials will have the required technology to verifyNew Zealand passports; however, this does not appear to be sufficient logic to preventthe New Zealand government from collecting iris-scans on all its citizens without anyreciprocity from other countries.Identity Systems in other countriesA number of countries are moving towards the inclusion of biometrics in identity cards,passports, and government databases; some are even waiting to see how the UK dealswith the Identity Card Bill.Recently the French Government announced its intention to include further biometricson its ID card, citing “international obligations” from the ICAO to include fingerprints.The French even refer to the “new acceptance of ID cards in the UK” since the “law” ofDecember 2004. 104 The Philippines and Thai Governments are modelling theirproposed ID cards on the UK scheme, with centralised databases of multiple biometricstracking a wide range of uses. These cases emphasise the importance of understanding100 ‘Homeland Security: International Dimensions’, Speech by Secretary Tom Ridge of the Department of HomelandSecurity to the Center for Strategic International Studies, January 12, 2005, available athttp://www.csis.org/hs/050112_HomelandInternational.pdf.101 ‘International Cooperation in Homeland Security’, Speech by Secretary Michael Chertoff of the Department ofHomeland Security to the Center for Strategic International Studies, May 19, 2005, available athttp://www.csis.org/hs/050519_chertoff_transcript.pdf.102 ‘US wants to be able to access Britons’ ID cards’, Kim Sengupta, The Independent, May 27, 2005.103 ‘Cover comes off e-passports’, Tom Pullar-Strecker, Stuff.co.nz, May 2, 2005.104 Ministere de l’Interieure de la Securite Interieure et des Libertes Locales, Le Programme INES, January 31, 2005.