Unlocking Fingerprints

The Washington Post is running a story called Unlocking Fingerprints detailing how the Government’s PIV cards might be the catalyst to have fingerprints on the most ubiquitous form of identification in America—the driver’s license.

OK, let’s see… that’s 10 years to come up with a plan of how to do it, 5 years to bicker over which companies will be able to implement the new IDs and start issuing them en masse, and at least another 10 years to wait until all existing issued IDs expire. After those 25+ years, we might be able to expect everyone to have a driver’s license with biometrics.

Until that time, it will be far simpler to counterfeit older driver’s licenses. Oh, and remember that four of the 19 hijackers on September 11th had completely legal driver’s licenses. So, how will adding my fingerprint to my driver’s license help fight terrorism?