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CNN Live At Daybreak

New Technology Being Used at Airports in Frankfurt, Germany

Aired February 20, 2004 - 05:31   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: At the airport in Frankfurt, Germany, authorities are trying out a high tech approach to identify terrorists or others with false I.D.s. They are scanning passengers' irises. The center of the eye is just like a fingerprint.
Chris Burns, our Frankfurt bureau chief, live on the phone with details on this -- good morning.

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Carol.

This is continental Europe's busiest airport so it really is in their interests to try to speed passengers along and try to catch anybody who is suspect. And this machine is quite remarkable, really. Once you register your iris with the German authorities, you can just scan your passport over a machine and then you look into a machine that scans your iris, matches it with what is in the system and you're moving on to your plane much faster than the others who are spending several minutes or quite a long time waiting in line to get through with their passports -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Chris, there's a lot of controversy about this.

Is this a voluntary process?

BURNS: Well, yes, it is voluntary and it's a test, as well. It's to last six months, after which they'll decide whether they want to make it permanent.

But, you know, rights groups are very upset about this. They say this is more Big Brother, if you make it mandatory, you're going to be looking into people's lives, not just their eyes. So it's very dangerous, they say, for people to give up their irises to authorities. They're giving up a lot of their privacy in the process.

COSTELLO: Yes, but to get through security faster, I think many people might choose to go through voluntarily.

BURNS: Oh, absolutely. You know, in fact, the -- where we are or where we were in the last couple of days watching people register, they really are doing some big business. Lots of people who are frequent fliers are very, very enthusiastic about this.

COSTELLO: Just in talking about the technology, so they take a print of your iris. I mean is any more information kept on you besides your, I guess your eyeball fingerprint on file?

BURNS: Well, that's about it. But it's very exact. In fact, by recording your iris, the iris has more than 260 different characteristics that a computer can put down. So it is seen as being the most accurate way to -- and failsafe way -- to identify somebody. And it's being used not only at airports, it's been tried out at a North Carolina airport in Charlotte, North Carolina; in Canada; in Britain; in Holland; though in Greece they nixed it because of those human rights questions, privacy questions. But it's also being used at banks, some government agencies. Even prisons in the United States have been using iris scans to make sure they've got the right guy.

COSTELLO: I don't think they'll have a problem with the controversy in prisons.

What happened in North Carolina? Do you know?

BURNS: Well, it is, it has been a program that has been tested. I'm not sure if it's really being continued on a permanent basis, but it was being used for frequent fliers to help them along so they don't have to wait in line for their international flights.

COSTELLO: I don't think it was working very well, but I'll check that out and get some more information for our viewers.

And we're going to talk to you again a little later.

Chris Burns reporting live from Frankfurt, Germany.

BURNS: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Many thanks for that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




Germany>


Aired February 20, 2004 - 05:31   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: At the airport in Frankfurt, Germany, authorities are trying out a high tech approach to identify terrorists or others with false I.D.s. They are scanning passengers' irises. The center of the eye is just like a fingerprint.
Chris Burns, our Frankfurt bureau chief, live on the phone with details on this -- good morning.

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Carol.

This is continental Europe's busiest airport so it really is in their interests to try to speed passengers along and try to catch anybody who is suspect. And this machine is quite remarkable, really. Once you register your iris with the German authorities, you can just scan your passport over a machine and then you look into a machine that scans your iris, matches it with what is in the system and you're moving on to your plane much faster than the others who are spending several minutes or quite a long time waiting in line to get through with their passports -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Chris, there's a lot of controversy about this.

Is this a voluntary process?

BURNS: Well, yes, it is voluntary and it's a test, as well. It's to last six months, after which they'll decide whether they want to make it permanent.

But, you know, rights groups are very upset about this. They say this is more Big Brother, if you make it mandatory, you're going to be looking into people's lives, not just their eyes. So it's very dangerous, they say, for people to give up their irises to authorities. They're giving up a lot of their privacy in the process.

COSTELLO: Yes, but to get through security faster, I think many people might choose to go through voluntarily.

BURNS: Oh, absolutely. You know, in fact, the -- where we are or where we were in the last couple of days watching people register, they really are doing some big business. Lots of people who are frequent fliers are very, very enthusiastic about this.

COSTELLO: Just in talking about the technology, so they take a print of your iris. I mean is any more information kept on you besides your, I guess your eyeball fingerprint on file?

BURNS: Well, that's about it. But it's very exact. In fact, by recording your iris, the iris has more than 260 different characteristics that a computer can put down. So it is seen as being the most accurate way to -- and failsafe way -- to identify somebody. And it's being used not only at airports, it's been tried out at a North Carolina airport in Charlotte, North Carolina; in Canada; in Britain; in Holland; though in Greece they nixed it because of those human rights questions, privacy questions. But it's also being used at banks, some government agencies. Even prisons in the United States have been using iris scans to make sure they've got the right guy.

COSTELLO: I don't think they'll have a problem with the controversy in prisons.

What happened in North Carolina? Do you know?

BURNS: Well, it is, it has been a program that has been tested. I'm not sure if it's really being continued on a permanent basis, but it was being used for frequent fliers to help them along so they don't have to wait in line for their international flights.

COSTELLO: I don't think it was working very well, but I'll check that out and get some more information for our viewers.

And we're going to talk to you again a little later.

Chris Burns reporting live from Frankfurt, Germany.

BURNS: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Many thanks for that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




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