Official: Security won't hurt privacy

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

Forwarded from: "eric wolbrom, CISSP" <eric () shtech net>

http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0722/web-info-07-24-02.asp

Official: Security won't hurt privacy

By William Matthews
July 24, 2002

Devising better ways to accurately identify individuals is a key part
of the Bush administration's homeland security strategy, but a senior
Bush aide promised July 23 that high-tech identification systems won't
be allowed to undercut civil liberties.

Steve Cooper told a gathering of congressional staffers and technology
company representatives that the Bush administration does not favor
any use of technology that undermines personal privacy or the openness
of American society.

Still, he said, the administration embraces biometric identification
technologies to improve security at the nation's borders, in air
travel, in federal buildings and elsewhere. Cooper is chief
information officer in the Office of Homeland Security.

Plans for extensive use of biometric identification, data mining,
among other technologies, set off alarms last week when they were
spelled out in President Bush's National Homeland Security Strategy.

The American Civil Liberties Union, for example, denounced Bush's call
for the federal government to help the states develop uniform driver's
licenses and licensing procedures. The ACLU warned, "This plan
proposes a national ID -- an internal passport -- pure and simple."

But Cooper said the Bush administration is "not in favor and currently
will not support a national ID card."

"We are at war, and the war on terrorism requires a balance" between
civil liberties and homeland security, Cooper said. It is "tough" to
balance the two, but the administration will not sacrifice civil
liberties for homeland security, Cooper vowed. "We will get it right."

However, Cooper made it clear that the administration foresees a
nation that relies much more heavily on high-tech identification for
purposes that range from gaining access to the country to gaining
access to a computer.

The homeland security national strategy calls for creating "smart
borders" that rely on biometric identification systems to identify
terrorists and criminals. Biometrics should also be used to combat
fraud in travel documents, the strategy says.

Fingerprints and facial recognition technology are the favored
biometric technologies at present, Cooper said. But retina and iris
scans and other technologies are likely to grow more capable and gain
wider acceptance, he said. The administration's policy is not to favor
any particular biometric technologies, but to develop identification
systems that can accommodate multiple technologies.

To be acceptable to the federal government, smart cards, for example,
would have to be able to accommodate more than one biometric
identifier. That's because different agencies have already adopted
favorite technologies, Cooper said.

The State Department has invested heavily in facial recognition as its
primary identification system, but the FBI is wedded to fingerprints.
And neither is likely to give up its favorite, Cooper said. So a
government smart card that is can be used to control building access
should be able to accommodate both, he said.

And the card that gets government workers into their buildings should
also control their access to computer systems, serve as a trusted
traveler card and perform other identification-dependent functions, he
said. spacer Advertisement

 
_______________________________________________________________________
eric wolbrom, CISSP                     Safe Harbor Technologies
President & CIO                         190 Goldens Bridge Ct.
Voice 914.767.9090 ext. 6000            Katonah, NY 10536
Fax   914.767.3911                              http://www.shtech.net
_______________________________________________________________________



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