Dept. of Homeland Security To Test Iris Scanners

SonicSpike writes "The Homeland Security Department plans to test futuristic iris scan technology that stores digital images of people's eyes in a database and is considered a quicker alternative to fingerprints. The department will run a two-week test in October of commercially sold iris scanners at a Border Patrol station in McAllen, Texas, where they will be used on illegal immigrants, said Arun Vemury, program manager at the department's Science and Technology branch. 'The test will help us determine how viable this is for potential (department) use in the future,' Vemury said."

Re:Already Used In The UK...

[Darkness404]

Yeah, the fact is, you shouldn't need to have any body parts scanned to do most activities it amazes me we somehow think its "normal" to be scanned when entering or exiting a country. These things are peaceful activities that cause no harm. Our xenophobia is taken to extremes lately. This idea that entering or exiting a country is considered to be hostile is laughable, especially since things like the "Terror Watch List", secret things that anyone could be on and be unable to leave the country because they are suspected "terrorists".

Re:Much Better

[Mashiki]

Dunno. From my northern vantage point here in delicious Canada, I knew it wasn't going to be better. I knew in fact based on his previous history, and lack of experience it was going to be worse. You guys got a "Iggy lite", which of course means that he's got no real world experience, and believes that government intervention in all things is the only proper way to solve any issue. And when there's actual issues at hand, he's no where to be found and letting anyone else deal with it so he has no blame.

Bureaucracy, it does you harm. However Bush for his faults, especially 'social conservatism' or 'passionate conservatism' was mostly at fault, and was doomed to failure for a reason.

Re:Already Used In The UK...

[vux984]

Not that I have, or ever am likely to, commit a crime ever but an iris scan isn't going to put me at the scene of a crime or give much away to a private health insurance company looking for any excuse to up my premiums.

You know what, that's actually pretty insightful. I'm against biometrics in general for government tracking, but you make a good point that an iris scan, unlike dna and fingerprints isn't something that you casually strew around everywhere you go.

It does genuinely seem like one of the least evil / least abusable biometrics available.

And defeating casual remote scanning applications is solved with such high tech solutions as 'sunglasses' (soon to be illegal I'm sure.), and novelty contact lenses which obscure or alter the iris.

One concern though is could this be vector for criminal identity theft? Take a scan and print it to a contact lens...? In controlled circumstances it should be easy to determine that a contact is in place, but some of the iris scanner literature I've read promises iris scanning of 'people in motion as they walk through a doorway' which should be much more easily fooled than a system where you have to put your eye an inch or so away from a box of camera equipment.