Biometrics

To the bane of national security officials, terrorists have entered our country through clever technological advances. Through the efforts of experienced and savvy document forgers, combined with the efforts of professional hackers, terrorists can enter our nation with a fake passport or identification card. Even if the identification is suspected to be faked, the terrorist can still enter the nation due to the efforts of experienced computer hackers, who place the fraudulent information into the system. Since it looks good in paper and in electronic form in the database, the terrorists are allowed to pass through United States border patrols.

Biometric locks are one way to boost national security against these technically savvy terrorists, illegal aliens, and the enterprising criminals that assist them in their forgery and security breaches. The biometric locks are going to be installed in border patrols across the country. These biometric locks will require anyone passing through the borders to submit to fingerprint, retinal, or iris scans.

Some question what this increased security will do to legitimate travelers. Actually, this has already been addressed, although many people are not aware of the advancement. As of 2006, all passports issued by the United States government are embedded with a biometric chip. This biometric chip stores information that is on the passport cover page, as well as a fingerprint scan and a facial scan.

By 2015, all passport carrying United States citizens will have a biometric passport. These passports will allow US citizens and legitimate travelers to pass through the biometric locks at US borders. With the cooperation of many other countries, such as Great Britain and Australia, biometric passports are sure to become commonplace by the time that the United States has fully transferred to the new biometric system.

Some privacy and security issues have arisen as a result of the new biometric passports and biometric locks systems. The biometric passports will allow legitimate travelers and citizens to pass through the biometric locks without incident. However, the same readers that scan the biometric chips in the passports can be readily obtained by terrorists and identify theft criminals. This opens up more possibilities for identity theft among travelers while out of the country.

One way to prevent this breach of privacy and personal security is to use foil inserts or covers for the biometric passports. This would prevent scanners from picking up on the biometric chips embedded in the passports. When travelers went through the biometric locks in airport or customs security, they would simply remove the biometric passport from the foil so that the biometric chip could be read by the biometric locks.

Overall, the idea of biometric locks for national security and border patrols is a great way to boost security in these areas. The biometric locks will allow for tighter security against illegal immigrants and terrorists. Additionally, everyone who went through the biometric locks would be scanned, given law enforcement officials data to compare against when crimes by foreigners are committed in the United States.