The New Hampshire Legislature is considering a bill that, if passed into a law, would ban the use of biometric data on ID cards issued privately or by the government with exception granted to employee ID cards, according to a SC Magazine article.
While the bill was formed out of fears surrounding the leak or theft of an individual’s irreversible personal data, however, groups have come out against the bill citing the ID management benefits behind the use of biometrics.
Among the groups coming out against the bill is a business trade group covering electronic and physical security called the Security Industry Association (SIA). Aside from requesting the state halt a vote before conducting a study on the benefits of the technology, SIA believes there is a misunderstanding regarding the privacy safeguards that have already been put into place with most of the technology available to placate the exact worries the bill intends to.
Another group that has come out against the bill, a nonprofit trade association representing the biometrics industry called the International Biometric Industry Association (IBIA), has pointed towards an inappropriateness of such a bill as there are many examples of useful applications of the technology that protects citizens rather than exposes them.
Specifically, the IBIA points towards situations where the technology helps thwart fraud and identity theft. The bill is due for public hearing early next week followed by a discussion later in the week in an executive session of the committee.
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