Biometrics a tool in war on terror (we will slip towards a International Identification Card U.N?)

WASHINGTON TIMES ^ | February 3, 2003 | Audrey Hudson

[A Patriot Son]

The Bush administration is establishing a national biometrics identification system to prevent terrorists from gaining legal entry into the country and says international standards should be established. Top Biometrics identifies people through their physical characteristics: fingerprints, iris scans, voice signatures or facial scans. It can be used with an identity card or the information can be stored in a database.

[A Patriot Son]

Bush backs Big Brother database






CNET News.com


A forthcoming U.S. government database will compile information from all federal agencies and the private sector on people deemed possible terrorist threats, President Bush said in his State of the Union address.

Mr. Bush used the speech to announce the Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC), a mammoth data-collection project intended to fuse information collected domestically by police and internationally by spy agencies.

"Our government must have the very best information possible, and we will use it to make sure the right people are in the right places to protect all our citizens," Bush said to applause from the joint houses of Congress.

The White House offered few details about how TTIC will evolve, but critics of an existing data-mining program under development by the U.S. government were quick to draw comparisons to the controversial Total Information Awareness (TIA) project. Last week, citing privacy concerns, the U.S. Senate voted unanimously to slap restrictions on that agency, which is run by Adm. John Poindexter at the Defense Department.

"It's potentially a huge repository of information concerning American citizens," David Sobel, general counsel of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said of the TTIC. "There's nothing in what has been made publicly available that would contain a limitation on such collection. To what extent, if any, will this system collect and maintain information on U.S. citizens?"

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to questions on Wednesday about what information on Americans would be accessible to the TTIC. One government official with knowledge of the center, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it was not designed to supplant Mr. Poindexter's efforts but was instead "an effort by the president to bring together elements of agencies that are focused on terrorism."

Mr. Bush's announcement of the TTIC is the latest step in a massive push after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to increase data-sharing between U.S. police and spy agencies. Congress removed many barriers to data exchange in the USA Patriot Act, and Attorney General John Ashcroft in September 2002 announced rules designed to formalize the "sharing of information between federal law enforcement and the U.S. intelligence community."

Mr. Ashcroft applauded the project in a statement distributed after Mr. Bush's speech. "The TTIC will ensure that terrorist threat-related information is integrated and analyzed comprehensively across agency lines and then provided to the federal, state and local officials who need it most," Mr. Ashcroft said. "We will be able to optimize our ability to analyze information, form the most comprehensive possible threat picture and develop the plans we need to prevent terrorist attacks."

The project's head, once selected, will report to CIA Director George Tenet. The center will operate in collaboration with the FBI and the new Department of Homeland Security and have access to "all intelligence information" available to the government, including data collected by the National Security Agency and Defense Intelligence Agency.

TTIC also will "maintain an up-to-date database of known and suspected terrorists that will be accessible to federal and nonfederal officials and entities, as appropriate," according to a fact sheet prepared by the White House.

Lee Tien, an attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), said: "Maybe their strategy is to duck all those questions and go ahead with programs that don't have any connection to Poindexter and get away from the swamp that TIA is in. It sounds to me that in anticipation of folks like [Sen. Chuck] Grassley, who have complained about the Defense Department being involved domestically, they're trying to ward off that criticism."

Mr. Grassley, a prominent Republican and chairman of the Senate Finance committee, this month lent his voice to the growing criticism of the Pentagon's TIA project. Mr. Grassley said he was concerned that the FBI was closer to using that project than it had previously acknowledged. Last year, Mr. Bush chose Mr. Poindexter to oversee TIA, a move that drew sharp criticism because of the former admiral's central involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Grassley said the senator would review the TTIC proposal but did not immediately have a comment.

It's not clear how much data-mining TTIC will do, but the White House's description says it will "fuse and analyze all-source information" and ensure that "information from all sources is shared, integrated, and analyzed seamlessly."

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., has introduced a bill to regulate "data-mining technology" in use by the government that could, if enacted, apply to TTIC.

The TTIC is charged both with overseeing a "national counterterrorism tasking and requirements system" and with maintaining shared databases.

That means the center will be able to order the FBI, CIA or NSA to collect information on someone, according to Jim Dempsey, the executive director of the Center for Democracy and Technology.

"The fact that you can task and that you can access the raw intelligence, the raw take of the collectors, makes it almost irrelevant that you don't have your own collection," Mr. Dempsey said. "This presents the centralization of control over collection and access to information on a scale we've never seen before."

[A Patriot Son]

NATIONAL IDENTITY CARD: "WE WILL NEVER CALL IT THAT"

[wbill]

The information would be contained in a highly encrypted code "protected from virtually any abuse," Mr. Norton said.

So said Microsoft about WindowsXP security. Hackers had cracked it the day of its release. Build better security, and they just build a better hacker.

[YoungKentuckyConservative]

Through the USA Patriot Act, Congress directed the administration to develop an integrated entry and exit data system at the borders with particular focus on the development of biometric technology.

But will they ever attempt to use this on the native population? And, are citizens required to be "recorded"? This should ONLY apply to visitors that are not seeking permanent citizen status. I like the idea, but it's too easily abused and the consequences could be very dire.

[El Laton Caliente]

Yes and the brady bunch check information was not to be retained. It has been; I've seen that personaly as well a data colleted on parts puchases that should have never been on a Federal database.

[Stavka2]

Yup, we'll call it voluntary self chipping and will even gladly pay for it.

[A Patriot Son]

International Biometric Group and West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation Strike Strategic Biometrics Alliance
< back




Collaborative Effort to Help Biometrics Industry Meet Newly Implemented
International IT Security Standards

NEW YORK and FAIRMONT, W.Va., Jan. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- International
Biometric Group (IBG) and the West Virginia High Technology Consortium (WVHTC)
Foundation have formed a strategic alliance that will provide the biometrics
industry with comprehensive services for complying with new, international
information security standards.
U.S. Department of Defense directives implemented last year require that
all information technology security products that handle national security
information -- including biometrics products -- be certified using specific
testing criteria including the "Common Criteria."
"These new standards and requirements under the Common Criteria are
complex and unfamiliar territory for many biometric vendors and customers,"
said Raj Nanavati, Partner of International Biometric Group. "This alliance
will allow IBG and the WVHTC Foundation, acting as strategic partners, to work
together to help the entire biometrics industry understand and comply with the
new security standards."
Not solely a U.S. directive, the Common Criteria is an international
standard which requires products to be evaluated by accredited testing
laboratories. The WVHTC Foundation lab is completing accreditation by the U.S.
National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP) as a Common Criteria Testing
Lab. That accreditation is expected in early 2003.
James L. Estep, President and CEO of the WVHTC Foundation, said the
alliance between IBG and the WVHTC Foundation is a natural one that will offer
a great deal of value to the biometrics industry.
"IBG has proven experience in biometrics consulting and testing and the
WVHTC Foundation has knowledge of the Common Criteria evaluation requirements
and biometrics," said Estep. "This collaboration can provide vendors with
services that are uniquely tailored for biometrics products, with the end
result being that of international certification. Vendors will also realize
cost and time savings, plus additional value from the technical expertise of
the combined groups."
IBG is prepared to offer services to help vendors and consumers become
better prepared for Common Criteria certification. Independently, the WVHTC
Foundation can offer Common Criteria evaluation services. Both organizations
are strongly dedicated to vendor independent biometric industry development
and growth and, therefore, are working together to educate the biometrics
industry on these new requirements.
The WVHTC Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in
Fairmont, W.Va., functioning as an engine of economic change for growing a
statewide and regional high-tech business sector. The Foundation has
established a multi-faceted approach to maximize economic development,
including infrastructure development, research and development,
commercialization and workforce development. For more information, go to
http://www.wvhtf.org.

International Biometric Group is the leading biometric integration and
consulting firm, addressing the identification and authentication needs of
mid- to large-size organizations. IBG works on behalf of both private and
government clients to evaluate, design, and integrate biometric solutions for
Internet applications, public sector programs, network security, point of sale
applications, physical access and time and attendance systems. Learn more at
http://www.biometricgroup.com.

Contacts: Patrick Gregg Trevor Prout
WVHTC Foundation International Biometric Group
(304) 366-2577 (212) 809-9491
plgregg@wvhtf.org tprout@biometricgroup.com

This release was issued through eReleases.com - Your Source for Affordable
PR. For more information, visit http://www.ereleases.com.

[A Patriot Son]

E-tags in clothes raise spy concerns
Barbara Gengler
JANUARY 21, 2003

THE prospect of embedding tiny chips into personal items and merchandise has watchdog groups raising concerns over privacy and security.

Embedded processor technologies, such as RFID, or radio frequency identification, will allow companies that use the system to keep consumer belongings under surveillance in stores, in homes and on the street.
A Gartner analyst has predicted a hidden interface between computers and physical objects would become a widespread phenomenon starting in 2007 and privacy issues would be inevitable, although not necessarily dramatic.

Gartner's Paolo Magrassi said RFID tags, or e-tags, were already used in a number of applications, from hazardous waste management to livestock tracking and feeding, as well as in electronic toll collection, inventory management and logistics.

He said applications, such as tags in airline tickets and boarding passes and in clothes, shoes, jewellery and banknotes, would be practical but would lead to serious privacy concerns.






Mr Magrassi said people, in many cases, would not be conscious of the tags' presence.

Will Doherty of the Electronic Frontier Foundation said RFID was useful, but: "It also could be a bad thing for privacy, because an increasing number of things and people could be closely tracked, often surreptitiously, for many purposes."

[A Patriot Son]

PoliceState coming to America soon

[A Patriot Son]

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