Drive to Biometric border ID 'inevitable'

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Drive to biometric border ID 'inevitable'; Tools to boost security at U.S. crossings: paper

<Canadians> will inevitably have to carry travel documents with their DNA, biometrics or other biological identifiers to ensure secure border travel to the United States, according to a new white paper to be revealed to government officials in Ottawa today.

Governments must prepare to make massive investments in new technologies at border crossings if they want to make the most of strict new travel rules for passengers under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, says the paper, released to CanWest News Service by the Network on North American Studies in <Canada>, part of the foundation that administers the <Canada>-U.S. Fulbright Program.

"We need to face the fact that there are some difficult challenges and that we need to address those challenges and we need to use whatever tools are most appropriate in a democratic society to make those decisions and to move forward," said Michael Hawes, who will present the paper as executive director of the Foundation for Educational Exchange between <Canada> and the United States of America.

Government officials and policy experts from the U.S. <Embassy>, Department of <Foreign> <Affairs> and International Trade and the <Canada> Border Services Agency will discuss the paper today in a panel held in the nation's capital.

The paper was released by the Network, an initiative of the Foundation, which administers the <Canada>-U.S. Fulbright Program. It was co-authored by Prof. Donald Abelson, chair of political science at the University of Western Ontario, and Prof. Duncan Wood, director of the <Canadian> studies program at the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico.

Although some technology, such as DNA-enabled passports or driver's licences, may be a long way off, terror threats and other looming risks mean governments must begin to seriously consider how they will introduce those measures, Hawes said.

"As the world becomes more complex, and as our expectations with respect to safety and security become greater, governments are going to have to invest in appropriate (measures) -- whether it's technologies, additional people, additional infrastructure -- in order to make sure that people can move freely," he said.

The paper examines the issues and challenges involved in beefing up border security and requirements for enhanced travel documents.

Above all, the governments of <Canada>, the U.S. and Mexico must seriously consider the impact the new rules will have on their respective countries and work to ensure they can be implemented to prevent serious problems, it says.

Earlier this year, new rules came into force that require <Canadian> air travellers to show a passport before they're allowed to fly into the U.S. Soon, <Canadians> will also have to show passports at land-crossings -- a rule that is expected to come into force sooner rather than later.

The original deadline was set for January 2009, but officials in both countries have been pushing for an extension. Despite this, U.S. <ambassador> to <Canada>, David Wilkins, recently urged <Canadians> to get their <passports> to deal with the new rules, which he says will take effect sometime next year.

But stricter rules that require travellers to show passports are just one step in the movement toward more secure borders, according to the report.

To adequately confirm an individual's identity and speed up the process of screening passengers, governments will inevitably move to enhanced identity documents that use biological information to identity travellers, it says.

"It is likely that there will be some form of biometrically enabled identifier or credential that individuals will carry," said Gayle Nix, executive director with Accenture, a global management consulting firm who will moderate the panel discussion.

Hawes said the paper clearly directs governments to think about developing partnerships with the private sector to help implement new technologies at border crossings.

That's necessary to properly take advantage of technological possibilities, such as embedding radio frequency identification chips, electronic fingerprints or even DNA into travel documents, the report says. <><><>

(oops -correction - from The Windsor Star originally :http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/story.html?id=b2c9c6d6-cc40-472d-8f30-5242c8ff1fe9&k=61436 )

Edited May 29, 2007 by Kathryn41