Aftermath News

New technology may allow long-range iris scans. Fingerprints, iris scans and even details of the way people walk, their scars and the size and shape of their ear lobes will be collected.

Telegraph | Dec 22, 2007

FBI to collect biometric information on British visitors

By Tim Shipman in Washington

British visitors to the US will have details of their physical characteristics added to a new billion dollar database under plans drawn up by the FBI.

Fingerprints, iris scans and even details of the way people walk, their scars and the size and shape of their ear lobes will be collected.

British intelligence agencies and police will also be able to access the information – giving them potentially more biometric data on British citizens than the Government collects at home.

Under the plans, revealed by the Washington Post, the FBI database will include details on everyone who applies for a visa to enter the US.

Fingerprint information on British tourists is already collected and held by the US Department of Homeland Security.

But the FBI database will also include iris identification, which is being slowly introduced at some ports of entry.

Researchers at West Virginia University are working on technology for the FBI that will let them capture images of people’s irises at distances of up to 15 feet, and of faces from as far away as 200 yards, without them even knowing.

The database will allow the FBI to check all entrants to the US against the faces, fingerprints, palm prints and irises of known terrorists and wanted criminals.

More than 900,000 American police and law enforcement officials will be able to access the data.

A contract to develop the database will be awarded next month. Critics say that peoples’ bodies will effectively become their international identity card – with the downside that if criminals steal your identity and were able to, for example, mimic your iris with a contact lens, you can’t just go and get a new eyeball like you would a new credit card.

Civil liberties campaigners criticised the plans. Barry Steinhardt of the American Civil Liberties Union said: “It’s enabling the always-on surveillance society.”

Police officers in Atlanta, Georgia, now have a biometrics system that can scan palm prints as well as fingerprints.

Network World | Nov 15, 2007

by Ellen Messmer

The Police Department of Atlanta, which makes 63,000 arrests per year, is getting a new kind of weapon to catch criminals: a workflow-based biometrics system that can scan palm prints in addition to fingerprints.

“A lot of criminals will leave a palm print when they try to break into a car or door,” says Capt. Shirley Britton, chief of the Atlanta Police Deptartment. “The benefit of our new system is we can put the palm print into the system along with the fingerprints we now hold.”

The department’s new system is the NEC Integra-ID biometrics middleware application and database. It works with NEC software and biometrics scanners called the LiveScan Complete Capture-to-Booking and the Fast-ID Booking and Release Identification systems. Using the NEC Integra-ID application, the Atlanta Police Department will be able to integrate biometrics identification with other archived information, such as electronically filed court documents related to the person’s arrest.

The Integra-ID system being installed in Atlanta law enforcement locales includes 10 Fast-ID Workstations and 13 biometrics fingerprint and palm print scanners with a database system that can hold up to one million fingerprints and a half-million palm prints.

Capt. Britton said the Atlanta Police has an older NEC Automated Fingerprint Identification System. She said the older system does a good job for certain things, like checking a jailed prisoner’s fingerprints, since criminals have been known to lie about their real name. But the new system, she points out, is much more of a “personal identification system,” since it lets law enforcement pull up mug shots from back-end databases and link to documents, such as court papers, search warrants and investigative documents.

Shell Oil provided this photo of a Pay By Touch enrollment kiosk. Chicago drivers have a new way to pay for gasoline: with their fingertips.Ten Shell gas stations in the Windy City are testing biometric systems that let consumers walk up to the pump, scan their fingertips on a device and fill up their vehicles. The systems, also installed at Shell convenience stores, are directly linked to customers’ checking or credit-card accounts for payment.

AP | Nov 1, 2007

By LAUREN TARA LaCAPRA

NEW YORK - Chicago drivers have a new way to pay for gasoline: with their fingertips.

Ten Shell gas stations in the Windy City are testing biometric systems that let consumers walk up to the pump, scan their fingertips on a device and fill up their vehicles. The systems, also installed at Shell convenience stores, are directly linked to customers’ checking or credit-card accounts for payment.

“When we talk to customers, they’re always looking for ways to make buying gasoline quicker and easier, and always looking for ways to make their transactions faster and more secure,” said Chris Susse, Shell’s manager of global refueling innovations. “They don’t want to carry more cards, kits and keychains, and they want it to be free.”

Customers will be able to initially scan their fingerprints at a kiosk inside the gas station and can link payment information either at the store or online.

The biometric devices, made by a San Francisco-based company called Pay By Touch, are one part of a technological trifecta Shell is rolling out at its gas stations.

Shell has partnered with Fuelcast Media International LLC to offer local news, weather and sports on digital screens at the pump. Fuelcast pays Shell for the ability to display advertisements along with the content from local NBC stations. The monitors are installed at 300 Shell stations across the U.S.

In addition, gas station attendants are testing hand-held wireless devices that allow full-service customers to pay electronically at their car window.

The high-tech push is a multi-prong initiative to build customer loyalty, stay ahead of competitors on the technological curve and gain revenue from the Fuelcast deal. Shell said it is the first brand to launch the biometric systems, though expansion hinges on whether its customers take to the futuristic finger scanners.

Brandon Wright, spokesman for the Petroleum Marketers Association of America, said he had not heard of any gas stations using biometrics, but wouldn’t be surprised if they were featured on the “next generation of pumps” as consumers demand quick, convenient payment methods.

Shell, which is part of Royal Dutch Shell PLC, has not yet promoted the systems, so uptake has been minimal, Susse said.

Sunflower Market, a Chicago grocery store, also has Pay By Touch systems installed. About 2 percent of its customers signed up for the payment option, said the store’s manager, Debbie Britton.

“I think it scares people,” Britton said. “They’re more confused about the whole system. Some of them say, ‘Well, now the FBI can find me.’”

Shoppers who consider signing up for such systems should find out whether their information is shared with affiliates or third parties, said Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.

Shell said it will not share personal information of Pay By Touch customers with third parties, and it still offers traditional forms of payment for those uncomfortable with the system.

Shell officials note that the system is less susceptible to identity theft since it’s impossible to duplicate or steal a fingerprint. Alternatives like cash, credit cards and keychain payment cards with radio-frequency identification chips can be stolen and used by others.

Industrywide adoption depends on whether gas station owners will be willing to pay for new pumps, which can cost “thousands to tens of thousands of dollars,” the PMAA’s Wright said.

Shell is uncertain of how much the high-tech initiative will ultimately cost or how the devices will be received, although the pilot program is not a major expense, Susse said.

Nonetheless, the Houston-based company is betting that making its brand distinct from other gas stations will make customers come back.

“We’d like to see an increase in customer loyalty because we’re the only gas retailer offering this service,” Susse said.