Personally I object to being treated as a terrorist/criminal suspect on a point of principle, which is why I avoid visiting or transiting through any country where I would be fingerprinted, the USA being the most obvious one.
Before anyone says so the 'nothing to hide, nothing is fear' argument is naive in the extreme.
Reply to this Hello Paul 😊
I have never been to a country where they wanted my finger prints.
The only time anyone has ever taken my fingerprints is after my house was burgled. The police took them so they could distinguish them from the burglers fingerprints.
I am not sure I care if the airport take my fingerprints or not. It is not any worse than the other security inconveniences. Of course I would prefer not to go through any of that boring stuff. I have been to so many countries where they have all kinds of time consuming security stuff and the fingerprinting would be just more of it. There used to be a time when I expected better of the more 'civilised' countries but I dont anymore.
Mel
Reply to this Unfortunately for us from the US, when the US state department requires fingerprinting some countries retaliate and fingerprint us when we travel. I Can't blame them. The same applies to high visa fees -- I had to pay a large visa fee for a visa to Brazil because of what the US charges Brazilians for visas.
KST
Reply to this Japan (since November last year) fingerprint and photograph all foreign nationals over 16. Although the process is quick I'm not in favour of it, but given I will be working in Japan for at least another 14 months it's preferable to do so rather than not be able to travel internationally for a couple of years.
Reply to this Last time I was leaving Thailand the immigration took a photo of everybody who was leaving.
I dont know what that was for? A new level of security checking?
Reply to this Japan, like the US, is now off my list of places to go to. If the Japanese tourist industry takes a hit from other people feeling the same way, then its government will get the message.
Reply to this I hated getting through US security at the airport. I arrived expecting to flash my passport and instead had my photograph and fingerprints taken. I also had to give my fingerprints to change travellers cheques and most bizarrely I had my fingerprint scanned before I could go into Universal Studios!
Reply to this In addition to fingerprinting, US is now thinking about rolling out full body scanners in 10 different major airports - they can see everything under your clothes in these scanners. This isn't at immigration but at security. Here is the USA TODAY story: http://tinyurl.com/5oqoot
Reply to this The UK is also starting to roll out full body scans...Heathrow airport was trialling them back in 2006 when we left the UK for our trip and we were the guinea pigs! There was something a little un-nerving about seeing your body without clothes etc on the screen (the security people let me see the image!) and I was very glad that they had the policy that women passengers could only be scanned by women security personnel.
As to the finger prints...we object strongly to this. Yes, we have nothing to hide but the countries which implement these policies can give no assurances how your data will be kept or used in the future. Is the server where your data is held secure, what if someone hacked into it and stole the data? We are the same as Paul, we refuse to go to the US simply because of the fingerprint issue and being treated like a criminal or a terrorist. Isn't applying for a visa/visa waiver and now registering with the US Immigration (new policy) enough?
Some of our family went to the US and said it was horrendous getting through US Immigration, it took them 3 hours. There was a girl of around 16 years old in front of them wearing a FCUK t-shirt. The US security/Immigration gave her a hard time asking if she thought it was funny to wear a t-shirt 'like that' and they said she either changes it or she isn't allowed into the US!
At the end of the day though, Immigration in all countries is getting a lot stricter, we no longer breeze through and most countries are starting to scrutinise passports etc. We think soon fingerprinting will be a standard part of the Immigration procedure for all countries...it's inevitable!
Reply to this The UK is also starting to roll out full body scans...Heathrow airport was trialling them back in 2006 when we left the UK for our trip and we were the guinea pigs! There was something a little un-nerving about seeing your body without clothes etc on the screen (the security people let me see the image!) and I was very glad that they had the policy that women passengers could only be scanned by women security personnel.
Hell!! That means we will have to go on the bikini diet before flying, even if we are not going to someplace where we will get to wear a bikini. :D
Some of our family went to the US and said it was horrendous getting through US Immigration, it took them 3 hours. There was a girl of around 16 years old in front of them wearing a FCUK t-shirt. The US security/Immigration gave her a hard time asking if she thought it was funny to wear a t-shirt 'like that' and they said she either changes it or she isn't allowed into the US!
That makes entering the US seem as bad as entering a third world dictatorship.
Reply to this When I went to the USA I had to be finger printed. When I say finger printed, I mean put my index finger on a little pad that took my print electronically and it took 5 seconds. I now live in Brazil and in order to register my visa I had to have the whole lot of my fingers printed on the registration form. This was after I had to have a full finger and hand printing to get a police clearance to even apply for my Brazilian visa at home. I was eye scanned while going into the UK (I think part of that new type of security they are trialing). After all this, I don't care.
Im sorry Paul but Im going to say it, I've got nothing to hide and if they want to do all this to make themselves and their citizens feel safer than who cares. Deciding to boycott an entire country simply because of a 5-second security measure seems a little extreme to me but thats fine, it's your choice. Why am I naive in the extreme? I'm not a fan of the US government but Im not worried if they have my finger prints. I mean they have my photo, passport details and basically my life story so whats the difference if they have my finger prints as well?
Also you object being treated like a terrorist, do you object to terrorists being treated like terrorists too?
Reply to this my main reason for wanting to avoid visiting the USA if possible is nothing to do with fingerprinting but rather that since 9/11 they can (apparently) legally arrest and imprison anybody without charge for an indefinite period simply on suspicion of being a terrorist. How scary is that?!
Reply to this Dear Traveler,
I'm all for it. Unfortunately we don't live in the world of yesteryear when we (travelers) can just get our ticket and run straight to the boarding gate. We live in a world where fear (proven fear) has forced us to change the way we travel. Traveling via the airways is not a right, but a privilege. And just because we pay for that privilege, we can't make ourselves to feel better than the laws that have evolved from past misfortunes. If the public wants to talk about a real issue... maybe one could be to find a new source of energy to power our "birds of transit service", and what we are doing currently to create one!
Fingerprinting would alleviate a lot of the stress whenever we have to get our Identification cards out. (That's a pain in the neck when I'm carrying my laptop and other carry-on baggage.) I also think it would expedite the length of time in the line before we stand in the "woodstock" bathroom line that is the security screening line.
All in all... it's a good idea.
cegrmr
Ryan M. Rodriguez
Reply to this Camo and Ryan, if you are happy to have your fingerprints and other biometric data on numerous databases over which you have no say, that is your choice. It is my choice not to. It is why I shall refuse an ID card and now travel on an Irish passport not a British one, even though I am Englishman born and bred
I have no objections to terrorists being treated as such. I certainly do object to people being arrested without charge, as happened during the 1970s and 80s to many Irish people in the UK wrongly accused of 'terrorism' and incarcerated because of it, and as our government wishes to do again towards anyone who objects to the War of Terror.
I am also sick and tired of historical revisionism which suggests that terrorism did not exist before '9/11'. Here in Blighty we endured three decades of it by people claiming to 'liberate' the country in which my parents were born; this group being largely financed and supported from within the USA, by people whose knowledge of Ireland is based on folklore not on reality.
Reply to this ....they can (apparently) legally arrest and imprison anybody without charge for an indefinite period simply on suspicion of being a terrorist. How scary is that?
Pretty scary!! Does anyone know if the US have in fact detained innocent people on terrorist suspicions and then let them go later because they were not terrorists?
Reply to this Camo and Ryan, if you are happy to have your fingerprints and other biometric data on numerous databases over which you have no say, that is your choice.
Is there any real danger about having this information on data bases? Yeah, the databases could possibly be hacked...... Our bank details, along with our names, addresses and other information about us is already on databases and this has not caused problems for most of us. We also already have information on databases about our births, marriages and deaths. This has not caused problems for most of us either. Libraries, schools... also have information about us on databases.......
Are people being overly fearful, or am I missing the point somewhere?
Reply to this I think identity theft, or potential of, is probably what concerns some people.
Reply to this If somebody steals the finger print and eye information from a database wouldnt it need to match with their own finger prints and eyes to be used as a form of id. For example, if I enter the US and they take a copy of my fingerprints and eye biometrics then in order for me to officially leave the US somebody with exactly my finger prints and eye biometrics will have to leave the US .
Reply to this Hey Paul
Thats fine that you make that choice. What I cant understand is when you say "I have no objections to terrorists beng treated as such." As far as I am aware, terrorists dont travel with shirts saying "I am a terrorist!". So wouldn't you think then that customs would have to scan everybody on the off chance a terrorist is travelling that day. They can't just scan certain people who look like arabs or are suspicious people because that would be a huge case of discrimination, wouldn't it?
Reply to this I think sometimes the wrong types of people are hired to be airport and border security officials. Also, they should have more specific guidelines about what to look for and how to do it when it comes to preventing terrorism. I think hassling people for things like wearing a FCUK t-shirt is a waste of time.
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