RETINAL SCANNER IDENTIFICATION

I’m sure the Right to Privacy crowd will have a ball with this one.

TEXAS SHERIFF’S OFFICE GETS RETINAL SCANNER
This technology is the latest in ID tools

El Paso Times
February 6, 2010

EL PASO, Texas — You are who your eyeballs prove you are. Persons can beat an ID check with fake paperwork, or even sanded-off fingerprints. But the El Paso County Sheriff's Office now has the latest technology in identification.

It's a retinal scanner said to be 12 times more accurate than fingerprints -- and a whole lot less expensive than DNA testing.

Ours is one of the first retinal scanners in operation. It came via a $10,000 grant from the National Sheriffs' Association. There is no cost to county taxpayers.

Once someone is scanned, the Sheriff's Office will have that person's retina data on computer. The scan identifies 235 eyeball points, all unique.

The Sheriff's Office plans to start its data bank using jail inmates. As time goes on, Sheriff Richard Wiles sees retinal scanners being placed in patrol cars.

So this is not all about the bad guys. Retinal scans can immediately ID lost elderly persons and missing children, too.

As theory goes, if retinal scans were to replace paperwork, waiting lines in all walks of life could be reduced. One's retinal data is even more "you" than your passport.

In the future, look for scanners at the international ports of entry. Criminals or persons with outstanding warrants would have a more difficult time entering the country. Others would have less hassle.

And if you're stopped on suspicion of criminal activity, and you didn't do the bad deed, the retinal-scan data bank can immediately set you free. And you might well get an apology from the law-enforcement officer.

"This is the future in law enforcement ... This will reduce the potential for taking the wrong individual into custody and things like that," Wiles said.

El Paso County is the first of 45 law-enforcement agencies to receive the retinal scanning technology.
Personal IDs are required in many walks of life -- bank transactions, airline travel, licenses ...

By using the latest technology, such as retinal scanning, we can be made safer and efficiencies improved in law enforcement and other areas.

EDITOR’S NOTE: One El Paso Times reader commented that “I guess you'll lose that million dollar bank account when you get an eye disease since it will change your eyes and they won't know who you are!”