Loss of Privacy

Biometric identifiers are supposed to make your passport more secure, however, the Dutch fear that the fingerprints in their passports aren’t really theirs. Fingerprints are required in all Dutch passports, but local offices aren’t checking them to see if they are correct.

Mr Van Raak says there is a significant chance that the fingerprints in your passport belong to someone else or that they will be not recognised by the system. The prints are not checked when they are issued at a town or city hall.

Speaking in a radio interview, the Socialist MP warned that innocent people are at risk of being misidentified as criminals or even terrorists. Apparently, six percent of fingerprints kept by the police are incorrect.

The fingerprints will be stored in a national database and no one is sure how they will correct the problem, should their prints match up with a criminal or terrorist. Even though only six percent are incorrect, that is still six percent too high as it is extremely easy to check and verify the fingerprints.

Alberto Stegeman is known for showing the security flaws at Schiphol airport. Now, he has a new special that shows how easy it is to get all the liquids you want past security.

The reporter found the security flaw in the airport’s duty-free shopping system. At Schiphol airport, passengers flying to countries outside the Schengan Agreement Area can buy bottles of alcohol at duty-free shops before going through security. They are then permitted to take these bottles onto flights, provided that they have the bottles sealed at the shop.

Mr Stegeman bought a bottle, emptied it and refilled it with another liquid. After that he returned to the same shop and ‘bought’ the refilled bottle again. The shop sealed the bottle in a bag, allowing him to take it with him through security and onto a London-bound flight. In London, he transferred planes and carried the bottle onto a flight to Washington DC.

This isn’t the first time that Mr Stegeman has found a security flaw in at Schiphol airport. When he went through security, he was recognized and was subject to an extra-thorough check. However, officers failed to check the sealed bag.

Bruce Schneier notes that, “The flaw, of course, is the assumption that bottles bought at a duty-free shop actually come from the duty-free shop.”

But note that 1) it’s the same airport as underwear bomber, 2) reporter is known for trying to defeat airport security, and 3) body scanners would have made no difference.

You can watch the video here. It’s mostly in Dutch, with a few bits in English. You can still see what’s happening even if you don’t speak Dutch.

After spending several hours searching for which airports are using full body scanners and what the rules are, the list below details my results. The fact is, most airport websites are useless when giving the information. Schiphol airport has a nice brochure outlining what they’re doing, but most of the information I found comes from various news sites.  Many EU states appear to be waiting for a concise response from the EU Parliament and then issue a united answer.

It appears that nearly everyone is thinking of or already has installed full body scanners. The differences is the type of scanner and whether it’s compulsory or not. Nearly all countries state that they are only doing this on flights to the United States.

The United States has also installed full body scanners at most of their major airports, though, under US law, everyone is supposed to have the option of a pat down as well.

Australia – body scanners will be introduced by early 2011
Belgium – waiting for EU decision
Canada – all airports to get scanners, in Vancouver, US bound passengers are to be targeted first, but have the option of a pat down; suspicious domestic or international travelers will be required to have a full body scan Winnipeg also offers the option of a pat down
China – hasn’t ruled them out, hasn’t decided whether to use them or not
France Charles de Gaulle airport – passengers may request a manual check
Germany – summer 2010 will begin testing
Ireland – seem to be still debating on whether they even want scanners, cost appears to be an issue; nothing noted on the Dublin airport website
Italy – all passengers traveling to the United States would be scanned.  I could not find if this is mandatory or not.
Japan – still deciding if they want them
The Netherlands – at Schiphol you can choose a body scan or pat down. You can download a pdf brochure from Schiphol outlining the details
Nigeria – will be installing them; From the tone of the article, I’d guess they’d be compulsory when it happens.
Russia – body scanners in use in Moscow since 2007, can request a pat down
South Africa – not considering full body scanners at this time
Spain – waiting for EU decision
United Kingdom – all airports mandatory or you do not fly