New Surveillance Industry Cashing In On ID Systems

The U.S. government’s growing appetite for biometrics-based ID systems to bolster security, detect terrorists, fight crime and control illegal immigration is generating billions of dollars of business for an evolving industry that’s coming of age in the post-9-11 era. The growth of the identification industry has also spawned an aggressive push-back from privacy advocates against what they call an emerging “surveillance-industrial complex.” Regardless of the perspective, few would deny that the expanding government market for more secure identification programs is laden with business potential. Players range from big-name defense contractors to obscure specialty firms. And the product line includes commonplace offerings that might have seemed possible only on Star Trek just a decade or so ago. Video or audio scanners can identify individuals by facial features, voice or even the blood vessels in their eyes, matching the information against data stored in a secure digital clearinghouse. Fingerprints are widely used for everything from firing up the computer to opening the office door. 9-11 accelerated the identification boom as high-tech companies stepped forward to supply several new security networks for transportation, government buildings, law enforcement and other venues.