First published: 01st April 2008
The Chaos Computer Club has published a fingerprint of the German Interior Minister, Wolfgang Schauble in their magazine Die Datenschleuder in an attempt to point out and publicise the insecurities of biometrics. Schauble is a proponent of fingerprint and other biometric technology, and has announced a new electronic passport that stores individuals' fingerprints on an RFID chip, saying the biometric would, "prevent authentic passports from being misused by unauthorized persons who happen to look like the person in the passport photo.".
The printed version of the magazine contains an ink image of a fingerprint, believed to be Schauble's right index finger, captured from a water glass he used while participating in an event at the University of Humboldt in Berlin, and the same fingerprint on a plastic film. The film can be covertly affixed to an imposter's finger to fool fingerprint readers.
Biometrics in any form are an identifiers, they are not secret.
Updated: 08th April 2008
No2ID and Privacy International have offered a £1,000 reward for the fingerprints of Gordon Brown's and Jacqui Smith's (Britain's Prime Minister and Home Secretary, respectively) fingerprints. The fingerprints should be "lawfully obtained" and provided with corroborating evidence. The groups intend to make the fingerprints publicly available, if they are obtained.
No2ID National Coordinator Phil Booth directly challenged the UK Government's biometric ID scheme saying, "If they truly believe that the ID scheme will 'secure' their personal identities, the best thing Gordon Brown and Jacqui Smith could do would be to surrender their OWN fingerprints and get us to donate the grand to a charity of their choice. Failing to surrender their fingerprints could be seen as tacit acknowledgment that they have no real faith in their own scheme."
