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Originally Posted by andyl
And what of iris scans, fingerprinting (no doubt DNA next)
It's about keeping track of people. Go one step forward - we have iris scanijng. Scanners could be put in all kinds of places. Add to that existing technolgu (the new speed cameras that track licence plates over distance, CCTV etc) and we will have no privacy and a system open to wholesale abuse.
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Ok DNA requires blood or tissue sampling, there is an inheirant health risk in security devices which use these, also there's the time it takes to actually get a result from the dna sample and to check it against one on record, plus all the cost of the technology to package it into something that can be used in an airport for instance, therefore it's a non-starter.
However, having it on record has it's advantages when trying to solve crime. Remember a guy on the m3 who died from a rock being thrown through his lorry window? the offender was found because a relative gave dna in a police campain.
Iris scans from a distance? Someone's been watching minority report
Current iris scans can't even cope with certain ethnic irisus point blank, let alone at distance! Such a device would have to be able to track your face, locate your eyes, hope you aren't wearing glasses or sunglasses, or contact lenses, or a large hat (so useless against most chavs!), and zoom in close enough to see the minute details of your iris. And as with fingerprints, its markers that are used not an exact match, so they can see if you MAY have been in an area, not that you are!
Reading a number plate is far easier, not hard to write code that can select black text from a white background, especially when legally number plates are supposed to be a set font etc, totally different to iris recognition.
Oh and it fails quite a lot of the time, so the images have to be checked manually to read the plates.
Finger printing, well for identity they match markers, for it to be considered presentable to court as the only evidence there has to be something like 11 although I think it varies in scotland.
Your fingerprint is unique, true. Resultant analysis of your fingerprint is not unique.
I can give a forensic scientist two fingerprints from different people, and he could conclude they are from the same person simply because of the markers.
Therefore, you can walk around a shopping centre touching everything you liked, have all the fingerprints lifted and analysed, and the number of resulting finds in the database would be astronomical!
Now if you broke into someone's house, nicked their VCR and were caught down the road, then having your fingerprints on record wouldn't really help because they've got you to fingerprint!
Now where biometrics do help is in confirming that the person using the card is the person that the card belongs to.
It works like a password but a password that no one else can have unless they chop off your hand or suck out your eye.
It's ok andy, I'm sending the men round with the paranoia pills
