Biometric ID cards readied for Australian's
Pastor Dale Morgan
Biometric ID cards readied for Australian's*
By Jessica Marszalek
May 19, 2008 03:24pm
Article from: AAP
FINGERPRINT or iris scan-linked domestic flight passenger cards are
needed to ensure people feel safer and security scares such as last
month's evacuation of Brisbane's domestic airport are not repeated, a
security organisation says.
The Australian general manager of Unisys, Andrew Barkla, today told AAP
registered traveller cards were already in use in the US to speed up
security checks and provide better safety.
And, they should be used in Australia, he said.
The cards were issued by airports and used biometric information to
confirm a person's identity and whether they posed a security risk, Mr
Barkla said.
"People can provide a level of their personal details and access to
their personal details like criminal record et cetera, and provide some
biometric information, say a fingerprint or something like that, and
then be given a card ... to provide them with quicker access through
airport security and through airports because they are a known quantity,
as opposed to the general man or woman on the street," he said.
"I think it's certainly something that has shown great benefit overseas
that could equally be applied to Australia."
Mr Barkla said he believed Australians would be in favour of such a card.
A survey by the company late last year found around 98 per cent of
respondents believed more needed to be done to make domestic air travel
safer.
The same number believed all people should prove their identity before
boarding a domestic plane, something not currently done when checking in
via web check-in kiosks at airports, he said.
Mr Barkla said traveller cards could be part of an across-the-board
tightening of security in Australian domestic airports, along with
guaranteeing all luggage was screened in every city and regional
domestic airport.
Tighter measures would help prevent security breaches such as when nine
people inadvertently bypassed x-ray checks in the Qantas terminal at
Brisbane's domestic airport, causing its evacuation and flight delays.
"I don't think any system is necessarily 100 per cent foolproof, but
certainly there are technologies that can be applied to minimise the
breach of an area that should be secure," Mr Barkla said.
"I think any breach, again, is an opportunity to step back and review
why did it occur."