Proposed German law foresees biometric IDs
ITworld.com 11/7/01
Rick Perera, IDG News Service, Berlin Bureau
Germans could be the first people to carry passports and identity cards with encrypted biometric data,
meant to enable computerized identification and hinder fraud. The new technology is included in a
package of antiterrorism measures agreed on Wednesday by the government Cabinet, and similar
measures are also under consideration in other European countries.
The bill, proposed in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in
New York and near Washington, D.C., still must be approved by the
Bundestag, or Parliament.
Ordinary IDs, which carry only the photograph and the signature of the
bearer, are too easily misused, the Interior Ministry said, but digitally
encrypted biometric data will enable the "absolutely certain" establishment
of identity.
Officials could not yet offer any details about the technology that might
be used.
"Various different measures are being considered -- whether a fingerprint
scan or a face scan; it's up to the Bundestag to decide which ones are
most efficient," said Gabi Holtrup, a spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry.
German human rights activists sharply denounced the proposed security
measures, which also include increased cooperation between secret
services and police, and expanded surveillance of electronic
communication.
In a joint statement Tuesday, more than 20 human rights and privacy groups, including the hackers'
organization Chaos Computer Club, took aim at the package.
"Not one of the measures proposed in the bill would serve to hinder strikes like the New York attacks.
Nonetheless, guaranteed basic rights and freedoms of both German and non-German citizens will be
curtailed without justification by the planned measures," the activists wrote.
The security bill carries a provision calling for the new security measures to be reviewed after five years,
but that does not reassure opponents.
"It must not be forgotten that the newly created structures will surely have a great interest in
demonstrating 'successes,'" the human rights groups wrote. "Experience shows that surveillance
measures, once introduced, are only repealed in exceptional cases."
Related security measures are being discussed on a European Union level, but "that process takes a lot
longer," Holtrup said.
Most E.U. countries, with the notable exception of the U.K., issue national ID cards to their citizens.
Proposals to introduce a national ID in the U.K. and U.S., including an offer by Oracle Corp. Chairman
Larry Ellison to donate the software to create an identity database, have touched off a heated debate.
Italy has begun issuing electronic ID cards to its citizens, following a similar program in Finland. The
Italian cards feature microprocessors and optical memory bands, and carry identity details as well as
health and tax information intended to allow citizens to interact with government services electronically.
The German Interior Ministry can be reached at +49-188-681-0 or online at bmi.bund. |
