Gentle Giant
02-08-2008, 09:10 AM
Bad news for any scammers who think Japan is a safe place for them to hide.
Kyodo News
Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008
A U.S. Homeland Security Department official voiced hope that Japan will eventually take the fingerprints of all 10 fingers of each foreign visitor to bolster the accuracy of the screening system.
Robert Mocny, head of the US-VISIT program, said in an interview Tuesday in Tokyo that the U.S. is "willing to talk with the government of Japan to follow what we've done," referring to the 10-finger system the U.S. has used at some airports since November.
Mocny stopped short of giving a time frame for when Japan should upgrade the biometrics screening from the current method, introduced in November, of taking the fingerprints of two fingers and photographing the face of each arriving visitor.
"Accuracy is one reason why we're doing this," he said.
People might be identified erroneously with two index fingerprints at airports and other ports of entry and temporarily detained without good reason, he said, but taking eight more fingerprints helps reduce such risks.
Mocny defended the current screening, saying, "It's important to the people of America and the people who visit America that they have a safe and law-abiding society."
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20080207a7.html
Kyodo News
Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008
A U.S. Homeland Security Department official voiced hope that Japan will eventually take the fingerprints of all 10 fingers of each foreign visitor to bolster the accuracy of the screening system.
Robert Mocny, head of the US-VISIT program, said in an interview Tuesday in Tokyo that the U.S. is "willing to talk with the government of Japan to follow what we've done," referring to the 10-finger system the U.S. has used at some airports since November.
Mocny stopped short of giving a time frame for when Japan should upgrade the biometrics screening from the current method, introduced in November, of taking the fingerprints of two fingers and photographing the face of each arriving visitor.
"Accuracy is one reason why we're doing this," he said.
People might be identified erroneously with two index fingerprints at airports and other ports of entry and temporarily detained without good reason, he said, but taking eight more fingerprints helps reduce such risks.
Mocny defended the current screening, saying, "It's important to the people of America and the people who visit America that they have a safe and law-abiding society."
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20080207a7.html