Government to Insist That Travel Industry Collects Fingerprints of All Foreigners Leaving the U.S.

The federal government is expected today to “order commercial airlines and cruise lines to prepare to collect digital fingerprints of all foreigners before they depart the country under a security initiative that the industry has condemned as costly and burdensome.”

The program is expected to cost airlines $2.3 billion over 10 years, an exorbitant amount, airlines say, “at a time when carriers are struggling with safety concerns, high fuel costs and passenger complaints.”

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has accused airlines of blocking the project, saying recently that if it’s not in place by the end of year, “it will only be because the airline industry killed it.” One airline industry representative called the demand “ludicrous,” adding, “We can’t afford anything in the billions to support a program that should be a government program.”

Besides financial concerns, Chertoff has also dismissed privacy concerns in the past, stating bluntly that “a fingerprint is hardly personal data because you leave it on glasses and silverware…they’re not particularly private.”

This material was created for the Progress Report, the daily e-mail publication of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

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