To The Republican Candidates: A Real World Solution

Our Borders

Well, how many of you are watching the Republican Presidential debates with full attention???  As for me, I am not.  And to be honest, I really don’t care.  In my extremely pessimistic view, whoever gets the Presidential nod, the United States is still doomed.  We have a long, long way to go until all of this financial debt mess is taken care of. 

And today, the European Union just announced their 2^nd bailout package to Greece.  Once this is done, people will be clamoring about the 3^rd bailout package for them.  When this happens, we will see the financial markets swing wildly once again.  To me, these debates we have today, are just a 3 ring circus.  We keep hearing about a “9-9-9” economic plan, and the candidates bashing each other, especially Mitt Romney and Rick Perry. 

But, over the past weekend, I was reading an interview Rick Perry did.  Whether you love him or hate him, he did have this one thing right:  The debates are in no way a platform in which a candidate can air their views and plans.  I will give him credit for that at least.  But one thing you don’t hear too much about is the immigration issue, and border control.  I thought for sure that would be a hot button topic, but I guess not.  But in the world of Biometrics, it is very much a fire hot topic. 

So, here we go:  “Morpho (Safran group) announced today that it has signed a five year agreement with the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service to maintain their automated border clearance system, known as “SmartGate”. This important phase strengthens the long term partnership between the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service and Morpho. This partnership is focused on automation of border clearance processing and is representative of Morpho’s increased focus on service based solutions . . . SmartGate carries out biometric identification of eligible ePassport holders. Travellers are identified in real-time using facial recognition technology, and that image is then compared to the digital image stored in the chip of their electronic passport. The system has been recognised as a key tool for Australian Customs and Border Protection Service as it not only simplifies the control process but it does so without compromising border security.”  (SOURCE:  http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9345/). 

My Take

Really, there is nothing new to using Biometrics for Border Protection, and curtailing the threat of illegal immigration.  But, this particular piece caught my eye for a few reasons.  First, one would think that Australia would not have as much of a problem with border control, and illegal immigrants.  I mean heck, it is a huge piece of real estate surrounded by water.  It’s not like the US-Mexican border.  But, people can still some how come in illegally, so this is what it is for.  Second, this scheme is actually a cousin of a Biometrics solution I wrote about before, just last week, by the same Biometrics Vendor. 

This solution as described here also is an e-Passport type of thing, but from what I understand, this only uses Facial Recognition. Most other e-Passport technologies rely upon other means of Biometrics, which include fingerprint/iris/vein pattern recognition.  To be honest, this is the first time I have seen an e-Passport scheme which just uses one Biometric Technology, and one, in my view, still has to prove itself a little bit, given its privacy rights and civil liberties issues.  So, we’ll see how it turns out.  Third, here see countries (and a continent for that matter) taking their own Border Control issues seriously, and implementing solutions rather easily and painlessly.  How come we can’t do it here in the United States, especially with our own border to the south (and just mentioned). 

I mean, we are still technically a world technology leader (though some may question that), including Biometrics.  So how come we can’t achieve the same level of success that Australia and the other European nations (and Asia) they have???  Truly, it makes no sense to me.  But for that matter, neither is this economic mess we are in.  But, if the Republican candidates want something else to bash and debate about, and offer some real solutions, perhaps they should talk about our border to the south, and because of that, how jobs are being taken away from us. Then they should mention about solutions, especially the use of Biometrics. 

Hmm, something that makes sense here:  A real world solution to a real world problem.  Boy, that would for sure stifle the mind of any politician or Presidential hopeful.

Comments

[lilyMix]

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