Computer World

Biometric Control is sooner or later going to take over passport control on a worldwide scale, and that is whether we like it or not.

The days when you go through passport control by presenting your old-fashioned passport will fade away.

Biometrics, in the form of two unique features in any human body, will sooner or later take over the tedious, and very often fraudulent, ways travelers can at present use their passports. The features that will incorporate the new biometric passport will be one's fingerprints and iris.

In Europe, Denmark started trials and officials have been testing iris scanning for air passengers since 2001. The US is entering this new era in a big way and England is practically at the doorstep. Other countries are carrying out studies, but once the system is proved to be reliable everybody will gradually join in.

This will not simply stop at passport controls because it is more likely that institutions such as national heath organisations and banks will follow suit. Banks are already finding this new system useful. The financial sector is also looking at biometrics as a way of verifying one's identity and adding a further level of security, such as at cash points or point-of-sales where a biometric signature would be needed to complete a transaction.

Governments are also looking at biometrics as a way of increasing the security of passport control and stamping out benefit fraud and illegal immigration - thus creating a more complex verification process for determining one's identity.

Similarly, private entities such as football clubs and discos, where control over access and physical security is important, are also considering biometrics as an alternative to swipe cards, combination locks or personal identification numbers (PIN).

In England, the government is using NEC technology in the roll out of biometric IDs and, having already gathered some experience, the company is confident that the UK implementation will be a success despite some opposition as to the danger of eyesores from the laser. But it is already being stressed that there will be no damage to the eyes, as the laser poses about as much treat to the iris as a candle flame 20 feet away.

We are fully aware that the present system of using a passport is inefficient. We have to be realistic and state that there will never be a foolproof system. Foolproof technology will never come to exist. Therefore it is unrealistic to wait and in the meantime carry on using the present system.

On a different tone, I lately read that there are new mobile phones with a gadget that will tell you exactly where the mobile is. This is being used in places like Japan to determine exactly where minors are. In other words children are given these mobiles and in case the happy users go missing, the gadget will keep on sending messages, even when the mobile is switched off, thus making it easier for the child to be found.

I wonder how a similar gadget has not yet been created to trace stolen goods. We know about boats and cars, but what about works of arts. Nanotechnology could very easily help by embedding a tiny gadget in, for example, a priceless painting, thus when the object goes missing it can be traced without any problems.

And so I move to the kilobytes technology. Forty years ago I worked with a 64 KB machine. A few years ago the one-megabyte hard disk was born. Now I just read that LaCie is about to ship a 500-gigabit (GB) drive for $579.

Definitely, Nanotechnology should be the inspiration of the up and coming generation.

Finally, we all know about surfing the net. But an article I read last month reported about surfing the net while actually surfing, yes on a surfer. Very far-fetched. Web surfing is ubiquitous at the desk, at home, on a PDA, via a cellphone and more. Yet the latest surfing seems to be surfing a bit beyond imagination and expectations to say the least.

The 'surfing while surfing' news that hit the headlines uses a conventional water surfboard that is enhanced with an Intel 1.7 gigahertz processor, 80 GB hard disk, built in Wi-Fi and a web browser displayed through an LCD panel mounted flush with the surface of the surfboard. It's just perfect for those hungry surfers who can't resist from staying in touch while they wait for the next wave while surfing the net.

The report states that there are no extension cords. The surfboard is festooned with solar cells, and it even contains a video camera to record and share in real-time with your expiates.

Isn't that exciting? As far as I'm concerned I'd rather gather enough energy and concentration to go through Nanotechnology. I would definitely find this more exciting than surfing the net on a surfboard. Who knows that with a bit of imagination and with radio waves we could still find ourselves sitting at home while we imagine ourselves tackling the next breaker with gorgeous girls admiring the exploits. How would they know who we are? By zooming in to our biometric iris perhaps...

paul@signit.com.mt