BRITS FURIOUS ABOUT PLAN TO FILE THEIR FINGERPRINTS WITH FBI

OBSERVER, UK - Millions of Britons who visit the United States are to
have their fingerprints stored on the FBI database alongside those of
criminals, in a move that has outraged civil rights groups. The Observer
has established that under new plans to combat terrorism, the US
government will demand that visitors have all 10 fingers scanned when
they enter the country. The information will be shared with intelligence
agencies, including the FBI, with no restrictions on their international
use. Article continues US airport scanners now take only two
fingerprints from travellers. The move to 10 allows the information to
be compatible with the FBI database. . .

Last night the British civil rights group Liberty expressed astonishment
at the plan, which will affect four million British travelers to the US.
'This must be the Keystone Cops school of border control,' said Shami
Chakrabarti, director of Liberty. 'Accumulating the fingerprints of
millions of innocent passengers will not deter would-be suicide
bombers.'

Security experts warned the scale of the scheme might jeopardise its
success. 'This maniacal proposal will turn thousands of law-abiding
British travelers into terrorist suspects,' said Simon Davies, head of
Privacy International, a campaign against intrusive surveillance.

'The technology at US airports will be far less reliable. That means
anyone could be the victim of a false match, Davies said. 'Be warned. A
San Francisco Bay family holiday may easily become a nightmare.'

He predicted that airport queues would treble as a result of the scheme.
'Taking fingerprints is a delicate and complex undertaking that can't be
rushed to keep queues short,' he said.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1984496,00.html

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