DHS alters plans for transportation worker ID program

[The Straight Story]

DHS alters plans for transportation worker ID program

By Jonathan Marino
[e-mail]
Homeland Security Department agencies on Monday announced changes to plans for implementing a transportation worker identification card program.

Facility and vessel owners and operators will not need to verify biometric data contained in workers' ID cards during the initial phase of the Transportation Worker Identification Credentials effort.

The Transportation Security Administration and Coast Guard announced they will hold off indefinitely on requiring that TWIC card readers be installed at points of entry for shipping businesses and at ports. Biometric security companies criticized the decision.

Walter Hamilton, chairman of the International Biometric Industry Association, called a program where biometric data is collected, but not verified, "half of a TWIC."


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