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U.S. Using Biometrics to Screen Foreigners

A database of fingerprints, faces and voices of suspected terrorists is being used at U.S. ports of entry.

WASHINGTON D.C - The United States is creating a database of fingerprints, faces and voices of those suspected terrorists and using the material to screen foreigners at U.S. ports of entry.

The biometrics data was seized in Afghanistan and is being shared with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Military researchers say there are plans to extend the collection process to Iraq in the event of a U.S. invasion.

Military and intelligence operatives have used a U.S. Army biometric tool kit to create the database of prisoners in Afghanistan and at the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They have taken biometrics, the measuring of physical human features, well beyond its most common use to date - identity verification for restricting access to computers or secure areas.

The system, known as the Biometrics Automated Toolset or BAT, consists of about 50 laptop computers equipped with scanners that collect biometrics. The laptop field units store suspect information in a central database at a U.S. intelligence agency in the Washington D.C. area.