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Scan 'n' fly - Biometrics in Canada DOUGLAS MCARTHUR - Globe & Mail \|\| March 29, 2006 Related - Fingerprint, iris scans for Canadian airport employees Picture this: You're late for a flight. You're running through the terminal towards the security bottleneck. But instead of wasting what seems like hours emptying your carry-on bags and being patted down, you flash a wallet-sized card and speed through. Such a system, already in place at Orlando International, is set to hit Toronto Pearson, Canada's busiest air hub. Last week, the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) signed on with Verified Identity Pass Canada to import a U.S. system that will use both fingerprints and iris images to let enrolled passengers use a special preflight security lane. The system is based on biometrics, a rapidly growing technology that stores an individual's physical characteristics on cards that can be inserted into automated readers. Once found only in science-fiction scenarios, biometrics have hit the mainstream in industries such as workplace security and banking. The technology has also taken root in the travel world, particularly when it comes to customs and immigration. About 17,000 Canadians and Americans have purchased a machine-readable Canpass Air card through a program run by the Canada Border Services Agency and Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The card, which can be linked to a stored image of the holder's iris, allows use of fast-track customs lanes on arrival at seven of Canada's busiest airports. It costs $50 a year. Applicants go through an interview and security check before cards are issued, said Patrizia Giolti, spokeswoman for the CBSA. Records of eye scans are stored by Canadian government authorities, and are not shared with any third party, she added. Other types of Canpass cards are available for corporate and private aircraft, private boats and remote border crossings. Article Posted at www.KnowledgeDrivenRevolution.com The Nexus Air card, currently in trials at Vancouver International Airport, allows U.S.-bound passengers speedy passage through American pre-clearance facilities, and lets travellers move quickly through Canadian customs after arrival on inbound flights. More than 5,000 people are enrolled. The card, available for an $80 processing fee, is linked to an iris scan stored jointly by Canadian and U.S. authorities. Prints of two index fingers are taken during enrolment for a background check. Plans call for the card to be extended to other Canadian airports, but no dates have been set. When it comes to security for passengers, Orlando is the only North American airport with a biometric system in place. U.S. Homeland Security requires New York-based Verified Identity to take prints of each applicant's 10 fingers and thumbs, and of both irises. The cardholder can choose any two of those 12 prints for use on the card. But Homeland Security has access to the complete files. Applicants must also pass a security assessment, and pay about $90 a year for the card. Holders of the Clear card in Orlando still have to pass their carry-on bags through a scanner, but are immune from random frisking or bag searches unless they set off an alarm or look suspicious. Toronto's Pearson airport, meanwhile, needs approval from Canadian authorities before it can introduce Verified's proposed Clear program, said Allison Beer, director of Verified Canada's global business development. If the okay is given, Canadian authorities could set rules for the collection and storage of biometric information that are different from those in place at Orlando, she said, adding that U.S. Homeland Security's involvement in the Toronto program is up to authorities in Canada. Trish Wilkinson, a spokeswoman for the GTAA, declined to answer questions on the Clear program, such as when it would be officially launched, saying details are still being worked out. But will travellers' personal privacy be comprised as these systems are rolled out? The use of biometrics at airports may set some suspicious Canadians worrying that Big Brother is taking over. Federal Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart said she plans to deal extensively with travel monitoring issues in her annual report to parliament this summer, and that her office has several questions about the Clear card program for Pearson. The involvement of a U.S. firm raises questions about where travellers' personal information could end up, she said, adding that “the more you share things around, the more you multiply the risks.” About KDR \| \| Home \| \| Weekly Features Archive	Weekly Weekly Features Archive
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Scan 'n' fly - Biometrics in Canada

DOUGLAS MCARTHUR - Globe & Mail || March 29, 2006

Related - Fingerprint, iris scans for Canadian airport employees

Picture this: You're late for a flight. You're running through the terminal towards the security bottleneck. But instead of wasting what seems like hours emptying your carry-on bags and being patted down, you flash a wallet-sized card and speed through.

Such a system, already in place at Orlando International, is set to hit Toronto Pearson, Canada's busiest air hub. Last week, the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) signed on with Verified Identity Pass Canada to import a U.S. system that will use both fingerprints and iris images to let enrolled passengers use a special preflight security lane.

The system is based on biometrics, a rapidly growing technology that stores an individual's physical characteristics on cards that can be inserted into automated readers. Once found only in science-fiction scenarios, biometrics have hit the mainstream in industries such as workplace security and banking.

The technology has also taken root in the travel world, particularly when it comes to customs and immigration. About 17,000 Canadians and Americans have purchased a machine-readable Canpass Air card through a program run by the Canada Border Services Agency and Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The card, which can be linked to a stored image of the holder's iris, allows use of fast-track customs lanes on arrival at seven of Canada's busiest airports. It costs $50 a year.

Applicants go through an interview and security check before cards are issued, said Patrizia Giolti, spokeswoman for the CBSA. Records of eye scans are stored by Canadian government authorities, and are not shared with any third party, she added. Other types of Canpass cards are available for corporate and private aircraft, private boats and remote border crossings.

Article Posted at www.KnowledgeDrivenRevolution.com

The Nexus Air card, currently in trials at Vancouver International Airport, allows U.S.-bound passengers speedy passage through American pre-clearance facilities, and lets travellers move quickly through Canadian customs after arrival on inbound flights. More than 5,000 people are enrolled. The card, available for an $80 processing fee, is linked to an iris scan stored jointly by Canadian and U.S. authorities. Prints of two index fingers are taken during enrolment for a background check. Plans call for the card to be extended to other Canadian airports, but no dates have been set.

When it comes to security for passengers, Orlando is the only North American airport with a biometric system in place. U.S. Homeland Security requires New York-based Verified Identity to take prints of each applicant's 10 fingers and thumbs, and of both irises. The cardholder can choose any two of those 12 prints for use on the card. But Homeland Security has access to the complete files. Applicants must also pass a security assessment, and pay about $90 a year for the card. Holders of the Clear card in Orlando still have to pass their carry-on bags through a scanner, but are immune from random frisking or bag searches unless they set off an alarm or look suspicious.

Toronto's Pearson airport, meanwhile, needs approval from Canadian authorities before it can introduce Verified's proposed Clear program, said Allison Beer, director of Verified Canada's global business development. If the okay is given, Canadian authorities could set rules for the collection and storage of biometric information that are different from those in place at Orlando, she said, adding that U.S. Homeland Security's involvement in the Toronto program is up to authorities in Canada.

Trish Wilkinson, a spokeswoman for the GTAA, declined to answer questions on the Clear program, such as when it would be officially launched, saying details are still being worked out.

But will travellers' personal privacy be comprised as these systems are rolled out? The use of biometrics at airports may set some suspicious Canadians worrying that Big Brother is taking over.

Federal Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart said she plans to deal extensively with travel monitoring issues in her annual report to parliament this summer, and that her office has several questions about the Clear card program for Pearson. The involvement of a U.S. firm raises questions about where travellers' personal information could end up, she said, adding that “the more you share things around, the more you multiply the risks.”

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