US passports should have fingerprints, Ridge says

WASHINGTON -- The United States should put the fingerprints of its citizens on passports to enhance global security, outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said yesterday in a recommendation risking a privacy fight at home.

Ridge said passports could ideally include biometric finger scans -- for all 10 fingers -- to help customs officials quickly and accurately identify US travelers. He offered no details on how the plan might deal with privacy concerns or guard against international identity theft.

"If we're going to ask the rest of the world to put fingerprints on their passports, we ought to put our fingerprints on our passports," Ridge said in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies before heading overseas to talk about security ties with the European Union.

The department has no immediate proposal to add fingerprints to US passports, spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said. Ridge is scheduled to step down Feb. 1.

The US government began fingerprinting and photographing visitors from other counties -- including staunch allies -- after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Most nations cautiously supported the added scrutiny, but Brazil last year retaliated by fingerprinting and photographing arriving Americans, delaying their travel for hours.

Including Americans' fingerprints on their passports also is a subject of debate within the US government. The State Department will begin issuing new electronic or biometric passports within a few months, containing a microchip holding a citizen's name, birth date, and photo. But while the chip will be able to include fingerprints, none are planned at this point.

At issue is the extent the passport chips would be encrypted to prevent government snooping or identity theft. The Bush administration has so far resisted encrypting digital passport information, which could prevent international customs officials from reading the data.

But privacy advocates say such personal information can be read from as far away as 30 feet by using sophisticated data readers.

"Without good encryption, there's a big risk of biometric pollution," said Peter P. Swire, an Ohio State University law professor who served as the Clinton administration's chief privacy counselor. "That can breed identity theft because now the bad guys can forge your fingerprint as well as your Social Security number. You can change your Social Security number, but it's really hard to change your thumbprint."

The debate has followed the Sept. 11 Commission report, which highlighted falsified passports as a serious problem for national security.