Passport Canada has confirmed it will schedule consultations to gather public input before a plan to incorporate biometric technology into passports moves forward, the Welland Tribune reports. The consultations are expected to begin in early April. Proponents of the plan say biometric passports, which include such data as fingerprints, facial recognition or iris scans, would improve border security. Critics, meanwhile, are raising privacy concerns and question the reliability of the technology, the report states. "Nobody has suggested these things are absolutely foolproof," says Welland NDP MP Malcolm Allen, who noted he is worried personal information encrypted into the documents could fall into the hands of criminals.
Full Story