Passport And Biometrics Soon Mandatory

FastNed · October 1, 2003

First and foremost, I am expressing no opinion about the need, validity or logic of a National Identity Card, that is not the subject of this thread!

Please take a dollar bill out of your pocket or purse and take a good look at it. Every day you rely upon the 'validity' of that document - for it is a document issued by our government - and you expect others to accept that document from you for what it is. We in America have seen our currency change over these last few years and become more complex which is intended to make counterfeiting of these bills more difficult. Soon, a multi-colored 'twenty' will be introduced as the beginning of a new multi-colored currency and the greenback will be a matter of history. It is simply too easy to falsify existing American currency; technology has defeated complex engraving where currency is involved.

As it is with our currencies, so it is also with our Passports. It is too easy to duplicate existing passports and unless they are improved, they will have no validity. Now let's be real, none of these changes will end the sale of Third World Passports or end the trade in altered 'lost' passports but the more secure and difficult a passport is to alter, the fewer will be the outlets.

Passports standards are negotiated these days through the International Civil Aviation Organization and the new standard is set by: ICAO 9303 “A Passport with Machine Readable Capability” . In brief, it calls for a machine readable document with biometric indicators. This does not mean you will need a 'chip implant' or a 'plug-in' port or any other invasive use of technology. Where the individual is concerned, at least in America and Canada (as differing from proposed action in the EU), there will be no additional requirements from the present although there may be fewer places where you can obtain the necessary pictures for your passport - I have not researched this, its simply speculation on my part.

Procedures for obtaining a passport should be no different or more difficult than they are today. The bottom line is that this changes how the passport is constructed; there are restricted addenda concerning papers, inks, etc. to be used but the essence of the 'biometric indicators' concerns the use of a 'smart chip' (as in some credit cards) to create a digital photograph. Unlike the proposed EU Document or even the present US/Mexico 'Laser" Visa, there is no required fingerprint(s) on this new document. I suspect the widespread American paranoia about fingerprints and data bases are the reason America did not concur with the EU on the requirement of a laser inscribed fingerprint(s) in the document - but again this is speculation on my part. Possession of such a passport may result in a "Green Lane" where a Canadian holder would swipe his passport and walk thru Customs.

I had thought that I would need to quote Statutes concerning criteria for admission but I do not believe that would add much to this discussion. This change has little to do with admission criteria but rather is aimed at document validity. Someone suggest that earlier in this discussion and I believe they are correct. Yes, a document more difficult to counterfeit makes it harder for anyone, terrorists included, to assume a false identity to cross our borders and that is the overall intent of these new specifications, they are not specific to the terrorist problem.

Greg, I remain of the opinion that Canadian Refugee procedures are of the 'catch and release' variety but that would be a different thread should someone wish to open that discussion.

Hugo · October 1, 2003

A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link. I won't go into the details here for obvious reasons, but it is very easy to obtain a fake birth certificate for someone who knows what they are doing. Once you have that, you can begin to accumulate other pieces of ID, until you have built up a whole new identity with passport, SIN card, driver's license, rental agreement for a house, Visa card, Mastercard, etc.

When somebody turns up at the issuing office with all this stuff, who would doubt them? If an office asks you for two pieces of ID, and you provide them, how many times have they been heavily scrutinised, and how many have they just glanced at them? Heck, every time I pay on Visa, the cashier gives me my card back before I've even signed the slip.

What does this mean?

As a terrorist, I can be smuggled into Canada on a ship, a plane or whatever. Not all the borders and coasts can be watched. I then get a fake birth certificate. I then use that to acquire another piece of ID, use those two to obtain a drivers license, etc. Once a I have a few good solid pieces of ID, I then go and get my biometric passport.

The biometrics, obviously, will match mine, but instead of being Mustafa Al-Terrorist from Iran, I am now John Ahmed, a Canadian citizen whose ancestors have been in Canada for generations. I can now enter the USA, legally, or go to Britain, or wherever I want, using that passport. Of course, all this is possible now, but it will still be possible with biometric ID, and that's my point: it will solve nothing.

FastNed · October 1, 2003

I concur, Hugo and neither of us wishes to set out a primer on how to do it but it remains quite possible to create a false identity. But it is nowhere as easy today as it was twenty years ago and as more and more death certificates are computerized, it becomes less so. We can never end this, only slow it down.

Compare it to the problem of underage drinkers and ID. For every step taken to create more secure identification, some smart kid gets creative in the school media lab and comes up with a solution.

We are unwilling to go to a "Cradle to Grave" ID program and so long as we refuse to do so, the number of false identification documents will be high. Even a National ID Program can not prevent this as it will always be possible to 'disappear' people and assume their identity or simply become a 'duplicate' them a State or Coast away. ID theft is extremely easy.

Witness the "Ten Most Wanted" and the difficulties in finding them with photos, fingerprints, etc. - so long as well have an open and mobile society, no ID program will ever be greatly effective.

Craig Read · October 2, 2003

Well you guys present some very strong arguments against the card. Many sound ones. I need to reread your posts and do some research. I am no expert on biometric cards or their impact on the rest of the immigration and border processes. If i can find info that addresses your points I will post them. Otherwise I would say that you are probably right on and biometric cards could be a waste. In that regard I am wondering why Homeland security is pushing the idea.

FastNed · October 2, 2003

Craig, I believe the intent is to make counterfeiting much more difficult. A 'Smart Chip' is more difficult to falsify, there is room within for some cute tricks with 'check-sum' equations and the ability to be machine read adds the potential for procedural changes which could expedite clearance for those who carry such documents.

It is like asking why bother to change the currency when you know there will still be people able to counterfeit it - well yeah, but.....

I do think America has made an error by not adopting the methodology of the EU and going for a fingerprint(s) as well as the picture but then again, no one asked for my opinion. I guess they lost my phone number. (Joke!)

Craig Read · October 2, 2003

He he. That is true. You should phone Tom Ridge and question why no one consulted you I don't think any system is perfect and I would suggest that without other reforms in immigration, border security, student visa's and the use of our welfare services, that adding another card or layer while potentially helpful, does not address all of the issues that need resolution. As well criminals are a conniving bunch, they seem able to get around even the best policed systems.

Craig Read · October 4, 2003

I just skimmed the 68 page report compiled on ID cards in Canada. 130 experts contributed. Summary; Nyet to the Card Idea. It would cost $5 billion to implement and the technology for biometrics is not fool proof. A small % of people would have the technology fail and thereby be placed under suspicion or worse. Coderre disagrees with the report citing a Poll that most Cdns want the card. But the report chastised this view, stating that the questions in the Poll were not accurate or valid ones, and that Cdns don't understand the complications surrounding biometric technology.

The report stated that ID cards would cause more trouble than solve and would cost at least $5 billion.

In that light, no thanks. Better ways to reform our borders than wasting money on biometrics.

So I stand corrected and agree with you guys after I initially supported the idea.

Moderate Centrist · October 8, 2003

HI Craig,

Glad you're on our side on this one. I think our tax dollars could be spent much more wisely to deal with Immigration and terrorist problems.

FastNed · October 8, 2003

I agree on the ID Card - they will never get one through in America.

If the 'politicos' were not so in love with "buzz-words" like 'biometric', the passport business would never be on anyone's screen. It is only an update in tech to modernize Passports and make them harder to falsify.

Craig Read · October 8, 2003

Mod and Ned, you guys are right on the card, the more i read about it, the bigger boondoggle it would be. I read a Post report that it would cost $7 billion - i remember the gun registry was what $2 million in original estimated costs ? Security should start at the beginning of the immigration intake process and in securing our borders with less expensive methods. You guys should lobby Coderre with some of your ideas. Apparently he loves the ID card idea.

Hugo · October 8, 2003

I think the Liberals really need to get back to the basics on these kinds of issues. A gun registry is really unimportant when regional police and RCMP funding are at 30-year lows. A biometric ID card cannot help when Citizenship & Immigration Canada is such an inept and inefficient organisation, when the borders are open and unguarded in many places, and where hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants and invalid SIN numbers have almost literally vanished somewhere into Canada.