Passports with newly integrated biometrical security features such as fingerprints and facial scans are something that both the German government and the U.S. government have been pushing for now for quite a long time. They share the conviction that such enhanced documents can contribute towards checking migration flows more effectively and flushing out terrorist elements. But it’s understood that only a unified passport system worldwide would have the desired long-term effect. However, the prospect of including biometrical features in passports raises the hackles of those who fear a violation of national data protection laws. At their meeting in Berlin on Wednesday, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and German Interior Minister Otto Schily promised that transatlantic endeavors to introduce the new passport system would not run afoul of Germany’s restrictive data protection laws. But Ridge added there was no more time to waste in agreeing on a common security standard. “America does not seek a double standard, we look for a single international standard,” Ridge said at Wednesday’s meeting. “the (interior) minister and I feel very strongly that if a United States-European standard can be developed with regard to information sharing … the kind of biometrics that sovereign countries and… Read full this story
- Vietnam-US medical cooperation enjoys good health
- Germany adopts Indo-Pacific policy, foreign minister Heiko Maas warns of ‘latent conflicts’
- Pressure grows for Germany to rethink pipeline with Russia
- UAE and Israel discuss cooperation on food and water security
- Germany says Soviet-era nerve agent used on Russia’s Navalny
- Spotlight: China, Europe vow to deepen cooperation, promote multilateralism in post-epidemic era
- Face-off intensifies between restaurants & landlords over rental discounts
- Chinese FM calls for consultation, coordination, cooperation between China, Germany
- China, France pledge to promote bilateral cooperation, China-EU strategic partnership
- Alexei Navalny: Germany threatens to rethink pipeline unless Russia starts cooperating over poisoning
U.S. and Germany Pledge To Intensify Security Cooperation have 300 words, post on www.dw.com at October 29, 2003. This is cached page on IT Breaking News. If you want remove this page, please contact us.