Scenes from blockbuster film ‘Minority Report’ could become a reality

February 8, 2010 by Infowars Ireland

When sci-fi blockbuster ‘Minority Report’ was released in 2002, the film sparked debate over privacy and the use of biometrics despite being set in the future.

But a world where your every move is tracked and an eye scan replaces passport control is not that far away.

Security chiefs and government officials from across the world are arriving in Dubai today to discuss how to make airports safer and weed out terror threats.

Biometrics is a hot topic at the top of the agenda and the boss of the European Biometrics Forum, Max Snijder, is leading the debate. “When these films are made, they do their research. What you see in Minority Report is not rubbish,” he told 7DAYS.

“In the last five years we have seen rapid development in technology that has opened up many possibilities for biometrics.” Biometrics are automated methods of recognising a person.

The most common form used is fingerprinting but now there is a raft of high-tech ways to check identity. Currently, face recognition and fingerprinting are used by some European countries at border crossing but in five years time, Snijder says eye scanning could be commonplace along with hand geometry, 3D imaging of the head and even vein pattern analysis.

As well as tightening up security worldwide, the other aim of biometrics is to cut the time and manpower involved carrying out checks at borders and airports.

Biometric passports are yet to be introduced in the Middle East but are commonplace in Europe although most countries, including the UK, keep only a digital image of the holder.

Although it might seem the likes of eye-scanning identification are almost impossible to fail, Snijder says false readings do happen with all biometric techniques which could either see someone banned from travelling or given the green light when they should be stopped.

He explained: “With all forms, there are such things as a ‘false reject’ when sometimes the system doesn’t recognise the person.

There are also instances of a ‘false accept’.

Biometrics should be used to complement security measures, not replace them.” Read more…