Monday, July 16, 2007

Thank you David Byrne - US travel restrictions explained

A message from David Byrne's webmaster gave me a good clue as to what he was referring.

It's the extension to the US-VISIT program which will start to collect 10 fingerprints and possibly a retinal scan in addition to the current face print and 2 fingerprints.

References:

  • The Federal Times from nearly a year ago. The first reference I found was from the beginning of 2006 and the system was "coming in a month or two". Heh.
  • US EU Mission - not impressed with the literacy of the US representative. "Very unique"? That's up there with "A bit pregnant".
  • From Wired


Overall, I can't say I'm quaking in my boots. I know some people who are now boycotting US trips over privacy and Guantanamo issues (hi Alex!), but I've been back a few times since 9/11 and the it's asinine "being seen to be doing something" restrictions on hand baggage, liquids and so on and stupid, untrained, rude security that is more of a problem IMHO, even at the front of the plane.

Thanks again to Tech for the clue.

Sorry for the rant. We now return you to your regularly scheduled photographs.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You forgot the imprisonment of Dmitry Skylyarov for a few months without trial for alleged infringement of the DMCA whilst he was resident in Russia and working on behalf of a Russian employer. - Alex

Anonymous said...

Bollocks. There's a reason the US was voted "worst country to visit" recently. I hate airports to begin with, and anything that makes it worse, even very slightly, introduces a hug negative potential.