Chertoff Says Fingerprints Aren’t ‘Personal Data’
Chertoff Says Fingerprints Aren’t ‘Personal Data’
Our guest blogger, Peter Swire, is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and served as the Clinton Administration’s Chief Counselor for Privacy.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has badly stumbled in discussing the Bush administration’s push to create stricter identity systems. Chertoff was recently in Canada discussing, among other topics, the so-called “Server in the Sky” program to share fingerprint databases among the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Australia.
In a recent briefing with Canadian press (which has yet to be picked up in the U.S.), Chertoff made the startling statement that fingerprints are “not particularly private”:
QUESTION: Some are raising that the privacy aspects of this thing, you know, sharing of that kind of data, very personal data, among four countries is quite a scary thing.
SECRETARY CHERTOFF: Well, first of all, a fingerprint is hardly personal data because you leave it on glasses and silverware and articles all over the world, they’re like footprints. They’re not particularly private.
Many of us should rightfully be surprised that our fingerprints aren’t considered “personal data” by the head of DHS. Even more importantly, DHS itself disagrees. In its definition of “personally identifiable information” — the information that triggers a Privacy Impact Assessment when used by government — the Department specifically lists: “biometric identifiers (e.g., fingerprints).”
Chertoff’s comments have drawn sharp criticism from Jennifer Stoddart, the Canadian official in charge of privacy issues. “Fingerprints constitute extremely personal information for which there is clearly a high expectation of privacy,” Stoddart said.
There are compelling reasons to treat fingerprints as “extremely personal information.” The strongest reason is that fingerprints, if not used carefully, will become the biggest source of identity theft. Fingerprints shared in databases all over the world won’t stay secret for long, and identity thieves will take advantage.
A quick web search on “fake fingerprints” turns up cheap and easy methods for do-it-at-home fake fingerprints. As discussed by noted security expert Bruce Schneier, one technique is available for under $10. It was tried “against eleven commercially available fingerprint biometric systems, and was able to reliably fool all of them.” Secretary Chertof either doesn’t know about these clear results or chooses to ignore them. He said in Canada: “It’s very difficult to fake a fingerprint.”
Chertoff’s argument about leaving fingerprints lying around on “glasses and silverware” is also beside the point. Today, we leave our Social Security numbers lying around with every employer and numerous others. Yet the fact that SSNs (or fingerprints) are widely known exposes us to risk.
There have been numerous questions raised about how this Administration is treating our personal information. Secretary Chertoff’s comments show a new reason to worry — they don’t think it’s “personal” at all.
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“…a fingerprint is hardly personal data because you leave it on glasses and silverware and articles all over the world, they’re like footprints.”
On that basis, neither is your DNA “particularly private”.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:52 amdoes this mean that if I’m out in public, step on some broken glass and bleed, that my blood left behind is not personal data, but in the public domain? My blood can be collected and DNA information can be obtained by anyone?
April 16th, 2008 at 10:57 amSo my fingerprint as a personal computer login isn’t a secret anymore ?
April 16th, 2008 at 10:58 amOh, and by the way, your retinas also belong to the state.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:59 amIN BushWorld, nothing is “private” unless you are talking about the Administration.
Sadly, in BushWorld, the (P)resident has more privacy than he allows citizens, when it should be the other way around.
Someone needs to pull the Constitution and the Bill of Rights back out of the trashcan Bush through them into.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:01 amNothing is private under the Boy King’s rule.
Chertoff is a quite typical Bushlicker. They state opinions that oppose established policy, because they don’t know the first thing about what their jobs entail.
Ignorant? Yes.
Willful ignorance. Most likely.
I thought the most important part of the article was ‘which has yet to picked up by US media’. In other words, it’s not going to be. Period.
Just like the blackout on Iraq invasion coverage, this so called ‘left leaning’ media is just another corporate lapdog.
I posted earlier about last night’s PBS Frontline show, ‘Sick Around the World’. Of the 5 democratic systems reviewed, 3 of them had no health premium costs at all. None. The wait was no longer, and in some cases, shorter, than wait time here. Care was just as good or better, and their experts explained they didn’t trust the ‘free market’ to do the right thing with health care.
Free market should be call ‘uncontrolled market’. And that, my friends, is the problem. Uncontrolled markets are raping America’s most needy and least able to pay. Uncontrolled markets are gouging, fixing, elevating and controlling prices.
Couple that with banks, insurers, oil interests and Wall St., and you begin to see how they will not stop until we convince Congress our Country is on fire.
Chertoff is a dumbshit, but dangerous, just the same.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:02 amthrough should have been threw.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:02 amI’m wearing gloves from now on :)
April 16th, 2008 at 11:05 amIn Hayes v. Florida, the SC ruled the taking of fingerprints w/o probable cause is a violation of the 4th Amendment.
While the right likes to complaint about “activist judges” it appears they are more than willing to allow the Homeland Security Secretary to re-write our Constitution.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:07 amCaption:
April 16th, 2008 at 11:11 am‘Beaker’, one of the Muppets, is sworn in or sworn at…
Cheney & Chertoff: the 2 most dangerous men in America.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:13 amAnd they wonder why we call them Nazi’s…….
present your papers…
April 16th, 2008 at 11:16 amSo, with the Freedom of Information Act we can all get a copy of Chertoff’s, Cheney’s, and Bush’s fingerprints to make our own artistic display for our living rooms?
April 16th, 2008 at 11:18 amAnd the brand spankin new super duper secret spy system is about to directed at Amurikkans for the first time???
April 16th, 2008 at 11:18 amWelcome to Amurikka, y’all.
This work’s so well considering how good the people checking the print’s are. Yah! right….Case in point, a fellow in Wash. State was arrested and put in jail awhile back because one of the “Print master’s” matched in error his print’s to a bombing…It just keep’s getting worse…Speaking of getting worse when is TP going to bring back the comment’s tag’s at the bottom of the post’s?…Guess we can’t praise a poster or tag a troll any more…~Blessings~
April 16th, 2008 at 11:20 amGod I hope we can survive the next 9 months until Obama takes office. These guys are getting scarier and scarier as the days tick down to their departure.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:21 amIt is a disturbing irony that this administration considers the personal information of “we, the people” as accessible to them while simultaneously withholding information about their actions in their official capacity of our representatives in government.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:21 amPatrioticLiberalChristian Says:
It is a disturbing irony that this administration considers the personal information of “we, the people” as accessible to them while simultaneously withholding information about their actions in their official capacity of our representatives in government.
This deserves re-posting; it’s also a method to bypass the lack of a ‘recommend’ option.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:23 amWhat can you expect from the guy who co-authored the “Patriot Act?”
April 16th, 2008 at 11:23 amNo it doesn’t apply to them…..they are special.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:24 amIs Chertoff paid by both the USA & Israel?
Does dual citizenship for a man in this position sit well with you?
Where are Chertoff’s REAL security concerns?
April 16th, 2008 at 11:25 amDNA is NOT personal data either, right?
jebus.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:26 amRUCerious Says:
And the brand spankin new super duper secret spy system is about to directed at Amurikkans for the first time???
Welcome to Amurikka, y’all.
Do you have more information about this or a link? I’ve heard vague rumors about it, but haven’t seen anything specific yet.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:27 amWell, since were going to allow them to continue to stack the federal judiciary, Chertoff’s view will likely become the law of the land soon and fingerprints will not be private anymore.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:29 amWe need a moderator here, stat!
April 16th, 2008 at 11:34 ambourbonix.com Says:
So now we not only have ridiculous trolls here, we have spammers too. Come on TP, let’s get on cleaning up this site before it dies.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:34 amLook’s like TP is now wide oen to troll’s and commercial spammer’s as well….Since the change over I have been having nothing but trouble with my pass word access and refreshing the post’s….Time for this old witch to leave untill all the crap is fixed…Blessings all, may see you on the flip side when it’s fixed.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:36 amMaybe the Homeland Security Secretary should be familiar with what is stated in the Homeland Security Official Guidance document that states;
“Examples of personally identifiable information include: Name, date of birth, mailing address, telephone number, social security number, e-mail address, zip code, address,
April 16th, 2008 at 11:37 amaccount numbers, certificate/license numbers, vehicle identifiers including license plates, uniform resource locators (URLs), internet protocol addresses, biometric identifiers (e.g.,fingerprints), photographic facial images, any other unique identifying number or characteristic, and any information where it is reasonably foreseeable that the information will be linked with other information to identify an individual.”
one more spam from bourbonix and I’m going to return the favor on its blog.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:37 amChertoff gets to leave when the shrub and darth cheney leave right?
April 16th, 2008 at 11:42 am“Chertoff Says Fingerprints Aren’t ‘Personal Data’”
per·son·al /?p?rs?nl/ Pronunciation Key – Show Spelled Pronunciation[pur-suh-nl] Pronunciation Key – Show IPA Pronunciation
–adjective 1. of, pertaining to, or coming as from a particular person; individual; private.
2. relating to, directed to, or intended for a particular person: a personal favor; one’s personal life; a letter marked “Personal.”
So, Chertoffie?
April 16th, 2008 at 11:43 amFingerprints and phone conversations of private individuals conducting personal conversations are not confidential but public officials conducting the publics business get to have secret emails, a secret energy task force, and are exempt from testifying before congress.
Citizen secrecy–bad, government secrecy–good. George W. Orwell
April 16th, 2008 at 11:45 amBy conducting a PIA, the Department demonstrates its consideration of privacy during the
development of programs and systems and thus upholds the Department’s commitment to
maintain public trust and accountability. Without the trust of the public, the Department’s mission
is made more difficult. By documenting the procedures and measures through which the
Department protects the privacy of individuals, the Department can better carry out its mission.
In what way is the Department demonstrating it’s concern for our privacy. I don’t think you are going to invoke alot of trust if our fingerprints are not considered personal information. It raises public knowledge that our rights are slowly and painful being eroded everyday.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:47 amimpeachthebastards
April 16th, 2008 at 11:48 amHere’s the link to the spy article
** This call is being recorded or monitored to insure the highest quality of your Patriotism, thank you **Beep
April 16th, 2008 at 11:53 amThat is so totally absurd. HIPAA defines data that MUST be protected as any information that can be used to personally identify an individual. If fingerprints don’t qualify as this kind of data, I don’t know what does.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:54 amWayne Says:
** This call is being recorded or monitored to insure the highest quality of your Patriotism, thank you **Beep
April 16th, 2008 at 11:53 am
** Please, select your favorite detention center. Press 1 for Guantánamo. Press 2 for Abu Graihb. Press 3 for Azerbaijan. Press 4 for all off the above. **
*beep*
** Now, please, select your favored Enhanced Interrogation Technique… **
April 16th, 2008 at 11:58 amGhost of 9/11 Says:
Please stop reposting those links.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:58 amI’ve got nothing to say until TP brings back the abuse link, the trolls have destroyed this site.
April 16th, 2008 at 12:06 pmthe current us terrorist government is momentarily trying to ignore that the dollar is momentarily loosing 1% of its value each day
I went to France in May of 2004. The Euro was valued at $1.25 at that time. It’s at a new high today of $1.5956. That’s almost a $.35 decrease in the value of the dollar vs. the Euro. If you have a 401K or other investment options, my suggestion would be to purchase Euros through an ETF (I’m in CurrencyShares Euro: FXE) and purchase gold bullion through an ETF as well, such as Ishares Comex Gold Trust: IAU. Don’t buy gold stocks…the producers are in trouble and even more so with the rising cost of oil.
April 16th, 2008 at 12:24 pmFrom the article RUCerious linked:
The program will not be used to intercept voice or data communications, but to obtain satellite imagery. All law enforcement requests must be accompanied by a warrant, and a third party panel that includes Justice Department officials will thoroughly vet all requests to ensure civil liberties are not violated.
And we can take them at their word right? NOT
We are totally and utterly screwed.
April 16th, 2008 at 12:47 pmWhy is it I am becoming less and less confident there will actually be an election this year?
April 16th, 2008 at 12:49 pmThank You TP.Guess you read my comment here and my email as well…Improvement noted….Blessings
April 16th, 2008 at 12:50 pmNothing is private to the Skull!
April 16th, 2008 at 1:01 pmI’m surprised nobody here has given the props to Germany’s Chaos Computer Club, who recently hacked the fingerprint of their Interior Minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, and distributed thousands of “wearable” copies with their magazine.
April 16th, 2008 at 1:46 pmSecretary Chertof . . . said in Canada: “It’s very difficult to fake a fingerprint.”
Obviously Secretary Chertoff doesn’t watch CSI. lol
April 16th, 2008 at 2:06 pmIf Skeletor has problems reading maybe he could be shown this episode of “Mythbusters” — where Jamie and Adam fooled an optical fingerprint reader with a copy of an approved fingerprint etched in latex, one made out of ballistics gel, and even a paper copy of an approved fingerprint.
Idiot!
April 16th, 2008 at 3:06 pmHe can get his fingerprints up his…
April 16th, 2008 at 3:41 pmThe federal government wants to begin collecting DNA samples from anyone who is arrested by a federal law enforcement agency. That would be a departure from the current practice of collecting samples only from convicted felons.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-DNA-Collection.html
April 16th, 2008 at 5:15 pmA fingerprint uniquely identifies each of us…a footprint does not.
What an ass.
April 16th, 2008 at 8:19 pmPerhaps Secretary Chertoff wouldn’t mind making his fingerprints publically available, then.
April 21st, 2008 at 8:41 amI thought the most important part of the article was ‘which has yet to picked up by US media’. In other words, it’s not going to be. Period.
Just like the blackout on Iraq invasion coverage, this so called ‘left leaning’ media is just another corporate lapdog.
I posted earlier about last night’s PBS Frontline show, ‘Sick Around the World’. Of the 5 democratic systems reviewed, 3 of them had no health premium costs at all. None. The wait was no longer, and in some cases, shorter, than wait time here. Care was just as good or better, and their experts explained they didn’t trust the ‘free market’ to do the right thing with health care.
Free market should be call ‘uncontrolled market’. And that, my friends, is the problem. Uncontrolled markets are raping America’s most needy and least able to pay. Uncontrolled markets are gouging, fixing, elevating acer aspire 4310 battery,acer aspire 4520 battery and controlling prices.
Couple that with banks, insurers, oil interests and Wall St., and you begin to see how they will not stop until we convince Congress our Country is on fire.
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The strongest reason is that fingerprints, if not used carefully, will become the biggest source of identity theft. Fingerprints shared in databases all over the world won’t stay secret for long, and identity thieves will take advantage.
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