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Wynn Las Vegas and Hard Rock will use RFID chips
BIG BROTHER IS ALREADY WATCHING...
The United States is eyeing a controversial tracking technology to aid
tightened immigration controls at border crossings to Mexico and Canada.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security plans to begin issuing special
identification devices to foreign visitors arriving by foot and by car by
July 31, according to a Tuesday announcement from the agency.
The devices will contain microchips storing a unique identification code
that's linked via government computers to document holders' names, countries
of origin, dates of entry and exit, and biometric data.
The department plans to begin issuing the high-tech IDs to foreign visitors
···
at border crossings in Nogales, Ariz.; Alexandria Bay, N.Y.; and Blaine, Wash., as part of a yearlong test of the system. The goal of using the technology is to more easily track visitors' arrival and departure, and to catch those who overstay their visas, the agency said.
It should also speed up inspection procedures at checkpoints. Border
officials can simply scan the chips, which signal their ID numbers via radio
frequency, from a distance and automatically gather the data they need.
The new chip system is part of the US-VISIT program, a federal initiative
designed to capture and share data such as fingerprints and photographs of
foreign visitors. The program, which the government put into motion a year
ago, is part of a broader push to guard national security in the aftermath
of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The United States has processed more than 17.5 million visitors through the
US-VISIT program so far and has arrested or denied entry to 407 of them
because of the new procedures, the agency said.
As part of a separate but related program, the State Department is
experimenting with embedding the ID devices, also known as radio-frequency
identification (RFID) chips, in American passports to deter fakes and theft.
The government is urging other countries to do the same.
Privacy advocates are concerned, however, that RFID technology could give
governments and corporations, who've begun using it to keep tabs on
inventory, too much surveillance power.
-----Original Message-----
From: vpFREE [mailto:vpF…@…net]
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2005 12:28 AM
To: vpFREE@Yahoogroups.com
Subject: [vpFREE] Wynn Las Vegas and Hard Rock will use RFID chips