U.S. Immigration tries high-tech ``tags'' at borders
U.S. Immigration tries high-tech ``tags'' at borders
By Theta Pavis SAN FRANCISCO (Wired) - It's been 44 years since Ellis
Island closed shop, but immigration can still be a long,
tiresome process. In an effort to speed the process for
international travelers, the US Immigration and Naturalization
Service is offering a biometric system for willing frequent
flyers. So far, 71,000 people in six airports have signed up for the
system, called INSPASS. It employs a biometric kiosk to scan and
match the geometric dimensions of travelers' hands, verify their
identities, and perform standard background checks. The INS
plans to expand the program to four additional airports by the
end of the year. ``It creates a fast lane for people,'' said James Wayman,
head of the federally funded National Biometric Test Center at
San Jose State University. The kiosks were integrated by EDS, which has had a $300
million contract with the INS for automation support and
software development since 1994. This summer, the INS awarded a
new, five-year information-technology contract worth $750
million to EDS and four other companies. Ann Cohen, an EDS vice president in the government services
group, said the fact that so many people have signed up for the
INSPASS system shows that biometrics are becoming more popular
and could be commonplace in the future. ``Were getting over that 'Big Brother' hurdle,'' Cohen said.
As e-commerce develops and terrorism grows, biometrics
increasingly are the ``only sure way to get security.'' US and Canadian citizens flying overseas on business at
least three times a year are eligible for the free INSPASS
program. People from Bermuda and 26 other countries that have
visa-waiver agreements with the United States are also eligible. The INSPASS kiosks, which look like ATM machines, were
recently installed at the Los Angeles International Airport,
where more than 1,000 people have enrolled in the program. Rico
Cabrera, a spokesman with the INS Los Angeles regional office,
said travelers like the fact that INSPASS can check their
identity in 16 to 60 seconds, a process that can take up to
three hours at some airports. The largest group of INSPASS users
at LAX are US citizens, followed by Australians and New
Zealanders. After filling out a one-page form and passing a background
check, travelers can be issued a Port Pass card with their
picture and a 12-number ID on it. A traveler inserts the card in the kiosk, which reads the ID
number and links to a centralized database run by US Customs. A
geometric hand template is called up from the database and
transferred to the kiosk. After a green light flashes, the right
hand is placed on a reflective surface-the ID-3D Handkey, made
by Recognition Systems. The HandKey uses a video camera to take
a geometric image of the traveler's hand and fingers, and the
data is converted using compression algorithms. If it matches
the template of the hand stored in the database, the traveler is
in. INSPASS kiosks are also in use at airports in Newark, Miami,
Kennedy (New York), Pearson (Toronto), and Vancouver, British
Columbia. The INS eventually plans to install them at most busy
international airports around the country, including Washington,
San Francisco, Seattle, and Honolulu. The department has geared
the program toward business travelers, diplomats, airline
personnel, and other ``low-risk'' visitors. Some argue that the INS hasn't done enough to market the
program. Jeffrey Betts, WorldWide Solution Manager for IBM-which
has developed FastGate, a kiosk similar to INSPASS-said people
aren't enrolling fast enough in the INS system. International arrivals at airports across the globe are
growing every year by 7 to 10 percent, Betts said, but border
control resources are flat or declining. In 1996, some 65,000
people were enrolled in the INSPASS program, but the program has
added just 6,000 new users since then. IBM, which has been running a small pilot program of
FastGate in Bermuda for the past year, is building a system
where people can swipe a credit card through a kiosk at the
airport and connect with a database where the biometrics are
stored. ``Governments will have to find ways to do more with less or
force travelers to queue like cattle,'' Betts said. While the government plans on marketing INSPASS more
aggressively in the future, Schmidt said, INS is counting on
word of mouth to get new people enrolled. ``We don't really have
the budget for a huge marketing campaign,'' she said. (Reuters/Wired)
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Thanks Tim and Anna!
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