April 7, 2004

Big Brother is Now Becoming Big Business

Revolutionary biometric technological innovations, which were first offered under the guise of the U.S.-VISIT program, to identify and track foreign visitors while they are in the country, are making their way from the boarder to a product near you, in the form of credit cards and cell phones. With identity theft as the fastest growing crime in the United States the pressure is on for the financial and telecommunication industries to find effective ways to protect consumers and their bottom line-- biometrics is offering them some hope. The adoption of new technology will present new opportunities to assess their privacy impacts—lets hope the conversations take place prior to the adoption of these innovations and not in the aftermath of failures.

Big Brother Inc., Time Magazine, March 29, 2004