Forum Archive Index - September 2001

["Jeremy" <jeremy@electrosilk.net>]

From: nickkearney@xtra.co.nz

> This is not a reaction from the WTC debacle.
> This stuff has been around for years.
> Some countries have trialled retina scans for customs.

> What the WTC situation does is give these people justification
> for implementing such devices.  They wait on the sidelines until
> something like this and the utilise it to their advantage.

Which is precisely the point of why this is a dumb idea, and more
importantly why it is a dumb idea to invest in it.

Just prior to this, a number of governments in USA legislated against street
camera based biometrics.  There is a strong feeling against such technology
in the US, and if it is not accepted there, it will never be a really big
success.

The promoters of the technology jump onto the band-wagon now and push it for
all it is worth.  But because of the underlying hostility, interest will
wane fairly quickly as will their share price.

There is a lot of security technology out there for airport use.  Some is
established and works well, eg the low level X-Ray imaging equipment and
metal detectors.  Other technology has been around for years and is still
marginal, such as NMR explosives detectors and mass spectrograph chemical
detectors (basically glorified research projects for universities)  The new
biometrics rank behind these in practicality and market growth.

The main reason biometrics will falter is because the other technologies are
not seen as intruding on privacy.  A metal detector doesn't identify you, it
just says if you are carrying a gun. Biometrics says that because your
retina scan doesn't match, you are a bad guy whether or not you are carrying
a gun.  Plus biometrics says you withdrew $100 from the ATM, used it to buy
a cheeseburger at McDonalds and perfume for your girfriend at the department
store before walking down the high street at 12:43, stopping to look at the
magazine rack at the newsagent.



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