Ridge: U.S. and E.U. Should Pioneer Biometrics
Reuters
BERLIN (Reuters) - The United States and the European Union should lead the world in setting international standards for biometrics such as facial recognition technology, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said on Wednesday.
Ridge said agreement between America and Europe on ways to combine fingerprints and facial recognition in travel documents could lead to a global standard.
"First principle: transatlantic agreement, U.S.-European Union agreement, leads the international discussion," Ridge told a news conference after meeting German Interior Minister Otto Schily in Berlin.
"I think the effort is to consolidate, harmonize the agreement between ourselves and then take it out to the rest of the world."
Schily told journalists: "We share the conviction that if different states work with varying standards, that will lead to confusion and make worldwide travel considerably harder."
He added: "The United States and the European Union can be pioneers, and we're convinced that if we unite, that will make a global agreement easier."
Schily said fingerprints and facial recognition could be introduced initially -- as already proposed by the European Commission for visas for third country nationals.
He said scanning of the iris, which identifies individuals by reading the unique pattern in the colored part of the eye, could be added later.
"Naturally, we'd like to press ahead speedily," he said, although neither man mentioned specific dates.
The idea of using biometrics to enhance security of international travel has gained momentum since the September 11 attacks on the United States, but initiatives have been split between several forums, including the G8 and the EU.
Some Europeans have expressed concern that U.S. companies such as Iridian, which holds a worldwide patent on iris recognition technology, could end up as monopoly suppliers.
The EU and the United States are embroiled in a separate dispute over new U.S. rules requiring foreign airlines to hand over passenger booking records in the hope of tracking potential terrorists.
Washington has agreed to delete some sensitive data, such as passengers' preference for halal or kosher meals, but still wants to hold up to 39 pieces of information on each incoming traveler for up to seven years. EU Commissioner Frits Bolkestein last week called that "disproportionate."
Ridge stressed repeatedly that Washington understood "legitimate" European concerns about civil liberties and privacy rights, and that Americans traveling abroad should face the same level of checks as visitors to the United States.
"America does not seek a double standard. We look for one single international standard," he said.
"We will not compromise privacy for security in our country." |
