Want to use the Web? Your fingerprint, please.

[CatWoman]

CHICAGO - Soon, patrons of the Naperville Public Library - at least those wanting to use the Internet - will need more than a library card.


They'll give a fingerprint.

It sounds like something out of a Philip K. Dick novel, but the new requirement is in many ways unsurprising.

The library, like other Internet providers nationwide, has realized computer users aren't always who they say they are. And the technology it will use to check up on them is fairly simple - patrons will press a glass-topped scanner.

In Naperville, the identity swapping consists largely of kids trying to circumvent their parents' Internet-filter rules. But in today's wireless world, users' purposes can be much more sinister: sending spam, looking up child pornography, or, increasingly, trolling for personal information like bank-account numbers and passwords - all under a cloak of anonymity.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/csm/20050602/ts_csm/athumbprint_1

[sarcasmo]

1. Some day soon just to check out a book you will need a library card.

Then big brother can see who is checking out Catcher in the Rye one to many times.

[Lochloosa]

2. How about just not wanting the Government knowing what the

fuck I'm doing on the computer, or in my home! Time Machine: 1984

[Zorra]

10. Yeh. Exactly. I'm sick to death of industry and government believing

that they have a right to invade my privacy when I am doing nothing illegal.

I'm even more sickened by the government actually enacting laws that enable the invasion of my privacy at the behest of fascists and corporations.

We should form citizens groups to follow certain politicians and corporate executives around day and night, and sit outside their offices and residences with telescopes, video cameras and surveillance equipment, with the intention of making them nervous and invading their privacy as much as possible. Maybe they will get the hint.

[The White Tree]

3. That should effectively kill internet use at libraries

and do nothing to prevent crime and terrorism as the criminals and terrorists just adapt and find another way.

There is no way I'd voluntarily do this as this would create the danger of me being investigated if my fingerprint turned up anywhere a crime had been committed. That is a ridiculous breech of a persons privacy for no worthwhile justification.

What's next, personal monitoring devices.

[0rganism]

4. And the fingerprint data will be protected how, exactly?

I love this bit:
---
'The library says it's doing everything it can to protect patrons. It deletes its log-in files on a daily basis, and doesn't spy on the sites users visit. While deputy director Mark West acknowledges that some may be wary of the fingerprint technology, he hopes a public-education campaign will help explain how it's used and, most important, its limits.

'"You can't compare it to an FBI database or anything like that," says Mr. West.'
---

Old data doesn't just magically disappear when it's deleted. I sincerely hope this was taken into account. Will these files be subject to daily backups prior to deletion, perchance?

I also note that although the log-in files are claimed to be temporary, nothing whatsoever is said about the actual figerprint data. The security around any on-line collection of sensitive ultra-personal information, such as biometrics, ought to be exceedingly sharp and enforced rigorously at all levels, from the stored application data all the way down to the physical network layer. I have to wonder if the Naperville library really has the budget for an effective top-end system suitable to preventing identity theft.

[aden_nak]

5. Fingerprint Prosthetics Black Market anyone?

Go see Gattaca. Seriously.

[name not needed]

6. Weird.

I was just watching that in one of my classes today.

[CatWoman]

8. HEZBOLLAH!!!!!!!

[BattyDem]

7. I don't know how it works in other local libraries, but in mine ..

Anyone using the computer has a limited amount of time. I believe the maximum is one hour per day per person (I don't use them, so I'm not exactly sure, but I've seen the signs around the library.) That's not a lot of time to do anything "sinister" and besides, you do have to show your library card in order to use the computer (which is how they keep track of the "one hour per day" limit). If criminal activity is traced back to a library computer, they can easily check to see who was using the computer at a particular time. So why would they need a fingerprint? That's ridiculous!

"To bypass filters, kids simply used their friends' cards."

So ... they're going to the extreme of taking fingerprints because some kids are trying to look at naughty pictures? Give me a break! :eyes:

How about this ... put photos on all library cards issued to minors. Parents can set Internet filters for their children, kids can't switch cards with their friends and adults get to keep their privacy.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

9. Does it matter what finger we give them? n/t

.

[NYC Liberal]

11. Is there nobody there watching to see if any of the activities

mentioned might be taking place?