Don't bank on biometrics or you may break the bank

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Reports that face and fingerprint matching scanners are being left unused by U.S. frontier guards prove biometric technology is not appropriate for securing high-traffic environments according to a Canadian security analyst.

American officials acted rashly in deploying biometric technology right after the 9/11 attack, and Canadians are in danger of taking the same route said Alicia Wanless, director of the Walsingham Institute, an independent Toronto-based security think-tank.

"Implementation of biometrics at border crossings was reactionary at best," said Wanless.

Shortly after the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, the American government went into high gear commissioning security equipment for the country’s entry points.

Biometric-based systems were touted as a sophisticated means of thwarting illegal entry into the U.S.

Biometric authentication uses technology to measure physical characteristics of a person’s face, fingers, hands, eyes or voice as a means of confirming identity.

A recent newswire report, however, revealed biometric scanners deployed at the U.S.-Mexican border are almost never used, because to do so would generate a huge backup in an area known for traffic jams that last for hours.

The report said the U.S. government spent "tens of millions of dollars" on issuing some 9.1 million visa cards to Mexican visitors that were embedded with the holder’s photo and fingerprint, but only about two per cent of the card holders are subjected to biometric screening.

The "laser visas" have an optical memory stripe that contains the personal identification information, a digitized photo and two fingerprints of the holder.

Cardholders crossing the border may be asked to press their finger against a lens and pose for a photo, while border inspectors swipe the visa through a machine to call up the holder’s personal data and photo.

The photo and fingerprints are automatically checked against a watch list for terrorist and criminals. The process takes approximately 30 seconds per person.