US wants to be able to access Britons' ID cards

Question:

Let’s see now. REAL ID Card is going international (what a surprise), will cost $250 +/- to replace driver’s license( I got that one right too), passports with RFID chips (the biometry sucks so the card is insecure) and it fails 30% of the time. And now a Trusted Traveller Card (of course you have to give up all your personal info to get one) so they don’t mistaken you for a terrorist like Cat Stevens. So much for "rapid processing". – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > US wants to be able to access Britons’ ID cards > 27.05.05 1.00pm > by Kim Sengupta > The United States wants Britain’s proposed identity cards to have the same > microchip and technology as the ones used on American documents. > The aim of getting the same microchip is to ensure compatability in > screening terrorist suspects. But it will also mean that information > contained in the British cards can be accessed across the Atlantic. > Michael Chertoff, the newly appointed US Secretary for Homeland Security, > has already had talks with the UK Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, and the > Transport Secretary, Alistair Darling, to discuss the matter. > Mr Chertoff said yesterday that it was vital to seek compatibility, holding > up the example of the "video war" of 25 years ago, when VHS and Betamax were > in fierce competition to win the status of industry standard for video > recording systems. > "I certainly hope we have the same chip… It would be very bad if we all > invested huge amounts of money in biometric systems and they didn’t work > with each other. Hopefully, we are not going to do VHS and Betamax with our > chips. I was one of the ones who bought Betamax, and that’s now in the > garbage," he said. > Mr Chertoff also proposed that British citizens wishing to visit the US > should consider entering a "Trusted Traveller" scheme. Under this, they > would forward their details to the US embassy to be vetted. If successful, > they would receive a document allowing "fast- tracking" through the US > immigration system. > A pilot scheme will start within a few months between the US and the > Netherlands, allowing Dutch visitors to use a Trusted Traveller card to > enter the US without being subjected to further questioning or screening. > Britain is one of 27 countries whose citizens do not need visas to enter the > US if they intend to stay less than 90 days. The American government has > said it wants 27 to issue new passports by 26 October this year containing a > computer chip and a digital photograph. > Mr Chertoff said compatability and the checking system was intended purely > to track down "terrorists and criminals" and the main aim was to provide a > "fair and reasonable system". > US diplomatic sources stated later that Washington did not wish to interfere > in the domestic affairs of other countries. > "When we screen based on names, we’re screening on the most primitive and > least technological basis of identification – it’s the most susceptible to > misspelling, or people changing their identity, or fraud," he said. > The scheme will also, say diplomats, ease confusion over who exactly > constitutes a suspect. The most high-profile case was that of Yusuf Islam, > the singer formerly known as Cat Stevens, who was barred from entering the > US because his activities "could be potentially linked to terrorism". > The British government is insistent that Mr Islam had no such links. > However, this is the latest controversy to surround Britain’s proposed > combined identity card and passport due to be introduced in three years’ > time. > Rising costs have pushed the cost up to

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