Стр. 32 - V

Электронное приложение к журналу «Международная жизнь»
Author : Yu. Voytenko
Head of the Consular Section of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Kingdom of Denmark, post-
graduate student, Department of World Political Processes, School of Political Science, Moscow State Institute
(University) of International Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
IT HAS BEEN TEN YEARS since biometric pass-
ports, international travel documents of a new type also
known as e-passports or digital passports, came into
wide use. Have they achieved their main declared goals
of hindering international terrorism, illegal migration,
and document forgery? To answer this question, we
would have to look at the whole history of replacement
of conventional passports with biometric ones.
Firstly, it was the U.S. idea to have biometric passports
introduced globally. The United States was virtually pushing other countries to put e-passports
into use as soon as possible. Under the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act
of 2002, adopted on May 14 of that year, biometric identification was mandatory for unrestricted
entry to the United States for a maximum period of 90 days for nationals of 27 countries that
had visa exemption agreements with the United States.1 The United States threatened to sever
the visa exemption accords with countries that didn't adopt biometric identification systems by
October 26, 2004.
Secondly, it was with the U.S. involvement that the practice was launched of providing biometric
passports with inserted chips that were based on radio-frequency identification (RFID) technol-
ogy, a wireless technology for the remote acquisition of data on a person without the latter being
aware of this.
Implanting RFID tags in humans had many adversaries who believed that it might result in global
surveillance and totalitarianism. The project was postponed in the fear of mass protests but was-
n't abandoned.
Instead of being a means of suppressing international terrorism and document forgery, biometric
technology has resulted in mass collection of personal data. The United States does this on the
largest scale.
The introduction of biometric documents has led to serious violations of fundamental civil
rights. Firstly, it creates presumption of guilt as any applicant for a passport or visa is seen as a
potential terrorist - they have to go through a fingerprinting procedure.
If one has his/her data records distorted because of a technical glitch or a computer virus, or
deliberately falsified, one may be put under a permanent visa ban and have to look for proof of
his/her innocence.
No technology is ethically neutral, and effects of the use of any technology depend on its broad
Biometrie Documents: Defense Against International Terrorism or
Control Over the Individual?