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An internal struggle

This Associated Press story is everywhere today. Government agencies are fussing over sharing fingerprint information databases between US immigration and law enforcement. Imagine that.

Agencies clash on fingerprint database.

It's all here

Q: What does US-VISIT, the TSA's Registered Traveler Program, and the TWIC Program have in common?

A: The promotion of biometric technology spurred by the Department of Homeland Security.

Biometrics by fire.

Forget about being the first on your block

This is a good article very plainly stating why the US is the last to get biometric cell phones. Of course it's expected that we are always the last to adapt to any new technology, but this particular instance is also being hendered by the providers. Here, they select what features they want to offer and directly determine what the manufacturers produce for us. In Asia, the consumers buy from the manufacturers.
Biometric cell phones on slow track to US market.

You have issues. Privacy issues.

There are apparently so many privacy issues for 2005, they had to pick the top five. As much as this topic is relevant to biometric technology, three pages deep this article is and only mentions it in this one paragraph:

Findings from the Ponemon Institute 2004 Survey on the Public's Perception of Identity Management, sponsored by the International Association of Privacy Professionals and Electronic Data Systems Corp., support the use of biometrics for identity management. More than 70% of respondents said they could accept certain kinds of biometrics, such as a voice recognition or fingerprinting system. The No. 1 reason is convenience. More than 88% of respondents believe biometrics will make identification more convenient and accurate. Among those opposed to biometrics (11%), most appear concerned about secondary or alternative uses of this data.

Top 5 privacy issues of 2005.

US-VISIT, where it stands.

Haven't had an honest-to-goodness US-VISIT update here in a while, so here goes:
New additions to the border control have been added in El Paso and New York.

US-VISIT is three quarters of the way to meeting its schedule to complete the deployment of entry procedures at the 50 busiest land ports of entry by December 31, 2004.

Biometric Checks at border - New York.
Land Ports of Entry at El Paso, Texas, Began US-VISIT Entry Procedures

A car or a mood ring? You decide.

Even I'm not exactly sure how this would work - a car that senses your moods, and adjusts things such as lighting accordingly through biometric data.
I think it's safe to say this is one of those concept cars that will never see production.

A car that senses the mood you are in.

It's alive!

Whaddya know, the smart gun works. They tested the gun they were working on at NJIT, and it's going as planned. Dynamic grip recognition is like hand geometry, except when you grip something, it will identify you, and there's no extra step in-between that needs to be added. They hope to deploy the technology in other places, like for steering wheels.

Shots fired at Bayonne range prove smart gun technology works.

DHS: File under F for Funny

I personally believe there aren't enough humorous biometric blogs around, so I thought I'd go first. Really, who said you can't have humor while talking about security? Okay yeah, airport security sure, but name another one!!
Anyways, if you saw Dave Letterman last night you can skip this post. This was his Top 10 list - Top 10 Ways to Improve the Department of Homeland Security:

1. Instruct airport screeners to hit everyone in the nuts.
2. Find a replacement for Tom Ridge that's even Ridgier.
3. Institute a 'books for bombs' program.
4. Make border crossing employees intimidating locked-out NHL players.
5. Anyone who phones in a tip about a terrorist plot gets a free Sirius satellite radio.
6. All foreign visitors to be outfitted with LoJack system.
7. Maybe some area rugs and throw pillows?
8. Get on Osama's good side by sending him a Christmas fruit basket by Harry & David.
9. Come up with a cool catch phrase like 'you're fired!'.
10. Instead of colors, assign each threat level a different flavor of Pringles.

Excuuuuse me if some of the wording isn't perfect - trying to type out the speed reading abilities of Dave without the help of a TiVo is a miracle on my part...

** The external links are to product pages for references that people outside of the US might not get... (but apparently Pringles are everyone so that one may be totally pointless...)

Biometric Digest monthly newsletter

There's a freeview of Biometric Digest's December newsletter that is available. A lot of the articles have already been addressed here in previous posts, but there are some things you might find interesting, such as:

• Password overload syndrome
• 15th CardTech/SecureTech Conference
• Startup says it can merge RFID payment with biometrics
• Recent biometric signings
• Biometric calendar
• Financial reports
• Biometrics2000 enters Japanese market
• White Castle adopts fingerprint

Get the PDF

You are how you walk.

Wondering what's happening with gait biometrics? This is the technology that can use regular video cameras, and identify you based on how you walk. It's not talked about as much because there are more privacy issues relating to a technology that can label you without even knowing it. Unlike fingerprint, you don't have to consciously do something in order to have it identify you. Therefore research and advancements have been hindered because of protests that use of such recognition could be invasive. But for those exact reasons is why we should consider its applications. At times that may become necessary.

Nixon has conducted extensive research on the use of gait as a biometric. Its advantage is that it is effective at a distance or where only low image resolution footage is available, as with CCTV cameras. Nixon worked with other researchers in the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's HumanID at a Distance project until the scheme was canned "because of US privacy concerns".

Gait advances in emerging biometrics.