An article in the JPost reports that the Interior Ministry agreed to review its plan for a pilot biometric database to investigate some of the security concerns it has raised.
According to the article, Israel is the second democratic country (Spain being the first) to create a biometric database of its citizens. However, India, is also in the middle of collecting biometric data including iris scans, facial images, and fingerprints from its 1.2 billion citizens, although there are concerns about privacy there as well. (See the articles from the Economist, and NY Times.) Morpho, a company involved in the Indian data collection process is also providing Israel's airports with security equipment and its explosive detection system is being used by the Prime Minister's Office. In France, the constitutional court ruled earlier this year that a law proposing a centralized national database containing biometric data was unconstitutional.
Relatedly, the Israeli Law, Information and Technology Authority (Israel’s data protection authority, “ILITA”), has issued a draft directive, regarding its stance on the Protection of Privacy Law, limiting the collection of people's teudat zehut or national identity numbers unless. Teudat zehut numbers should only be collected after the database owner whether such collection is necessary and for how long the data is required. Part of that examination entails considering whether there is a less intrusive means for identifying the data subjects. That means that when you register to join a store's customer list, they should not ask for your national ID number, instead they should provide registrants with a unique customer ID number.
According to the article, Israel is the second democratic country (Spain being the first) to create a biometric database of its citizens. However, India, is also in the middle of collecting biometric data including iris scans, facial images, and fingerprints from its 1.2 billion citizens, although there are concerns about privacy there as well. (See the articles from the Economist, and NY Times.) Morpho, a company involved in the Indian data collection process is also providing Israel's airports with security equipment and its explosive detection system is being used by the Prime Minister's Office. In France, the constitutional court ruled earlier this year that a law proposing a centralized national database containing biometric data was unconstitutional.
Relatedly, the Israeli Law, Information and Technology Authority (Israel’s data protection authority, “ILITA”), has issued a draft directive, regarding its stance on the Protection of Privacy Law, limiting the collection of people's teudat zehut or national identity numbers unless. Teudat zehut numbers should only be collected after the database owner whether such collection is necessary and for how long the data is required. Part of that examination entails considering whether there is a less intrusive means for identifying the data subjects. That means that when you register to join a store's customer list, they should not ask for your national ID number, instead they should provide registrants with a unique customer ID number.
For some scholarly papers on the vulnerabilities of biometric database systems and their solutions see here, here, here and here. There is also a book published by the American Bar Association entitled The Practitioner's Guide to Biometrics, but it is basically a collection of papers on some of the problems with biometrics. I don't think it's worth the price.
One fear of biometric fingerprints is that a user can be forced to place his finger on the scanner or his finger can even be detached from his hand by malfeasants and used to gain access to sensitive information. According to one article, a German company has come up with a way to defeat the second scenario by imaging the change in skin color that occurs when a live finger is pressed against the scanner. But then there is always the problem illustrated by this (poor quality) clip from the movie National Treasure.
One fear of biometric fingerprints is that a user can be forced to place his finger on the scanner or his finger can even be detached from his hand by malfeasants and used to gain access to sensitive information. According to one article, a German company has come up with a way to defeat the second scenario by imaging the change in skin color that occurs when a live finger is pressed against the scanner. But then there is always the problem illustrated by this (poor quality) clip from the movie National Treasure.
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