Quietly, the infrastructure for a global identification system is being put in place by a consortium of commercial entities, and government agencies, and non-profit organizations.
A nearly-invisible organization called the Federation for Identity and Cross-Credentialing Systems (http://www.fixs.org) has created what it calls the first "worldwide, interoperable identity and cross-credentialing network." Now installed at numerous U.S. military installations and government offices, the FIXS network is now ready for global deployment.
What might bring about the adoption of a global identification system? The threat of terrorism, naturally. Jim Williams, former director of the US VISIT program within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, says a global ID would help fight terrorism, and also cut wait times, reduce government fees for travelers, and deter illegal immigration.
Progress in other countries promises to make a global ID
system a reality sooner, rather than later. In the EU, the European Health
Insurance Card sets up a framework by which travelers from one EU
country who fall ill in another EU country can obtain health care there. The
final phase of this effort will add a "smart chip" containing a range
of data, including health files and records of treatment received. It's hardly a stretch to imagine that this
card could evolve into a EU-wide identification card.
On another front, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has issued a series of "best practice" standards for biometric passports and the transfer of airline passenger data. Resolutions adopted by ICAO's governing council of government representatives require all members to begin issuing machine-readable passports by 2010. Another ICAO standard requires the new high-tech passports to contain sufficient spare memory to house a "biometric identifier" such as face recognition (the initial standard) or fingerprinting. Again, it's easy to imagine how this information could be woven into a global travel database that is an integral part of a future global identification scheme.
However, national ID cards, much less a global ID system, won't bring the promised benefits. As Bruce Schneier, founder and chief technical officer of BT-Counterpane, an Internet security company, observes:
"ID cards will not reduce crime, fraud or illegal immigration. Instead, ID cards encourage criminals to attempt forgeries, potentially exacerbating crime rather than reducing it. As you make a credential more valuable, there is more impetus to forge it. And even if we could guarantee that everyone who issued national ID cards couldn't be bribed, initial cardholder identity would be determined by other identity documents ... all of which can be forged.
"But the main problem with any ID system is that it requires the existence of a database. In this case it would have to be an immense database of private and sensitive information on every citizen—one widely and instantaneously accessible from airline check-in stations, police cars, schools, and so on. And when the inevitable worms, viruses, or random failures happen and the database goes down, what then? Is the whole country [Nestmann note—or world] supposed to shut down until it's restored?"
What a global ID system will be effective in doing is to bring the world one step closer to global totalitarianism, with law-abiding citizens forbidden to work, travel, open bank accounts, or conduct the most basic life activities without approval from faceless bureaucrats.
Perhaps that's why, according to FIXS, the primary obstacle for a global ID system is political, not technical. "The cultural gap with the public in general is still too wide," says Dr. Mike Mestrovich, president of FIXS. "I think there would have to be a public consensus to move us in that direction and I don't see that happening until at least 2009 or beyond."
However, that public consensus isn't as far away as you might think. For instance, an opinion poll last month in Canada revealed that 72% of respondents would have "no problem" with the introduction of a national identification card which would include a person’s photograph and fingerprint.
Clearly, if we are to stop a global ID system, much less national ID systems, we must develop a global consensus against the idea. The Canadian opinion poll reveals we have a long way to go.
High-tech passports, no-fly lists, and other privacy intrusions have made private travel much more difficult than it once was. But it's still possible to travel privately—click here for more information.
Copyright © by Mark Nestmann
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