Wired

From Friendly Nate: 2 of 2

The US has forced a move toward bio-metric identification and tracking at the Canadian border:

Kingston’s closest U.S. border crossing will employ high-tech radio frequency technology to monitor visitors from other countries who want to enter the States from Canada – a move that alarms both a Kingston privacy expert and an immigration specialist.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said this week that the crossing between Lansdowne and Alexandria Bay, N.Y., will be one of three Canada-U.S. land borders to require non-Canadians to carry wireless devices as part of a pilot project.

Travellers will be required to carry the devices as of Aug. 4.

The technology is part of US-VISIT, a billion-dollar anti-terrorism initiative launched last December that has kept about 700 criminals, including one posing as a Canadian, out of the States.

US-VISIT uses biometric information from photos and fingerprints taken from non-Canadians at border crossings to track residents from other countries who enter the U.S.

Canadian citizens are the only people in the world exempt from US-VISIT.

Nate's thoughts, in addition to the cyborg-tracking method:

"Oddly enough they're testing this at the Surrey BC border location, aka the Peace Arch, a symbol of our brief attempt to war with Canada over the latitude marker that would distinguish our country from theirs at the Washington State line. We wanted 54, we settled for 45 (I think)."