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Knowing Me, Knowing You
Part 2 in SeaBoard's look at the trends in the documentation of identity
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July 2006- Alicia Wanless +1 416 413-1636, IGB
Grant +1 514-849-3508, Brian Sharwood +1 416-413-9381
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KEY HIGHLIGHTS: |
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- The U.S. is about to require American and Canadian travellers entering the U.S. to hold a valid passport or another “accepted secure document”. These measures take effect soon:
- Air and sea travel – by 31 December 2006; and
- Land travel by 31 December 2007
- Contemporaneously, the U.S. is planning the implementation of a system it refers to as the People Access Security Service (PASS) system. A cornerstone of the PASS system is the PASS card – an electronic ID card using embedded wireless technology. The technology underlying the PASS system is not yet decided: consideration is being given to both RFID and Contactless Integrated Circuit technologies.
- Implementing a Canadian equivalent mirroring the U.S. PASS card alongside U.S. initiatives could be risky and it will be costly – the technology-systems are not yet ready for such sensitive and widespread implementations and the initiative could be a ‘politically-sensitive’ move.
- Yet there is a significant opportunity for Canada and Canadian technology companies. Canadian industry should be encouraged to develop new products and services to meet the growing international need for scalable solutions for smart, electronic identification documents – bespoke solutions that are tailored with the sensitivities of personal-identity issues in mind, not mere adaptations of commercial systems that are more focussed on inventory-tracking than on identity-theft and terrorism prevention.
- SeaBoard recommends, as a first step in any re-assessment and reequipping of Canada’s border security technology, that immediate attention be given to augmenting computer technology for border security officials. The tools to augment the job already exist; they merely need to be deployed. A related recommendation is that there needs to be additional specialized-training given to border officials to assist them in carrying out their sensitive missions: Gone in 60 Seconds – is both the name of a recent Nicholas Cage film, and a good expression of the length of time we allow border agents to assess the character of the border-crossing candidate – we need to ensure that that minute is quality-time.
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