Military Seeks Better Use Of Finger, Eye Scans on US Soil

Yep…

Source: CBS News

On the front lines in Iraq, U.S. troops can scan someone’s eye or finger to try to determine if he is a potential enemy or has been connected to a terror attack.

At military bases on U.S. soil, it’s not that easy.

The use of biometrics _ ranging from simple fingerprints to more advanced retinal and facial scans _ has thrived in Iraq, where soldiers carry handheld devices that enable them to link to databases filled with hundreds of thousands of identities.

But in Colorado, military bases just 20 miles or so apart have different identification requirements and access procedures for personnel or contractors trying to get onto the property. The gaps raise security concerns and worries of another attempted massacre scheme, like the one foiled at Fort Dix in New Jersey in 2007.

“Interestingly, we are probably further forward in using biometrics outside our country in some of the combat environments than we are inside our country,” Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, commander of U.S. Northern Command, said Tuesday. “We’ve got to find a way to fix that.”

Speaking at a biometrics conference, Renuart said the military services and law enforcement agencies around the country all carry different ID badges, and many are embedded with different information. And in some cases those agencies, he said, also have different computer databases that don’t communicate well.

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Technorati Tags: biometrics, fingerprints , retinal scan, facial scan

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