Biometrics may thwart spy missions
13 April, 2012
category: Biometrics, Government
With many national governments and businesses such as airports and hotels moving toward e-passports and biometric identification, CIA agents and other country covert ops may have problems moving around the world under assumed identities, reports Gizmodo.
Before 9/11, undercover agents could easily use multiple false passports when moving around a foreign country. Today, with the introduction of biometrics, if an agent has to undergo biometric scans upon entry of a foreign country, he is tied to the the identity on the passport.
Businesses like hotels and car rental agencies request passport information upon check-in and share it with local immigration authorities on a daily basis, meaning that someone who enters the country under one name can’t show up on a registry under a name that doesn’t register as having entered the country.
When the CIA is working alongside a foreign intelligence agency, this isn’t as much of a problem, but when it’s conducting an operation unbeknown to a foreign country, this can become an issue. Other countries’ intelligence agencies are facing similar problems, including Israel’s Mossad.
To combat the technology, the CIA stepped up its recruiting of locals in foreign countries who have access to systems like immigration records, but the agency won’t say what its thoughts or plans are regarding getting around the new e-trail.
Read more here.