E.U. Visitors To U.S. Will Be Fingerprinted
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BRUSSELS, Belgium — Visitors from European nations traveling with visas or visa-free to America will soon have to give 10 digital fingerprints when entering the country, a senior U.S. Homeland Security official said yesterday.
Border checks could also soon include other biometric data, such as facial and eye retina scans, as America upgrades security at its ports, airports, and border crossings, said P.T. Wright, the operations director for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s USVISIT Program.
All people from European nations and others participating in the U.S. Visa-Waiver program would have to give additional prints, as would people traveling from nations where visas are needed, he said.
Since the two-fingerprint scans were introduced in 2004, Mr. Wright said, security and convenience for travelers has gotten better. U.S. travel security restrictions have caused increased opposition in E.U. nations, amid demands from Brussels that Washington expand its visa-waiver program to include all 27 E.U. nations.
E.U. data protection officials also have raised concerns in the past over the American system and over a similar fingerprint system being set up by E.U. nations.
They are keen to get the best privacy guarantees for citizens. The prints are checked against watch lists drawn up by U.S. Homeland Security and other agencies.
