News and insight into biometric identification and authentication

The rules on exporting biometrics outside the U.S.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008


Did you know that many biometrics technologies are controlled for export? The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) controls the export of biometric technologies for crime control reasons, a policy aimed at promoting human rights throughout the world.

The idea is that that crime control technologies, such as fingerprint scanners, should not be used to track or single out political or religious dissidents in totalitarian states. An export license is generally required for exports or re-exports to all but a few non-NATO countries.

There are 806 words in the rest of this article …

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