An interesting article popped up on the AOL news page today:

Handheld Device Helps Nab Scofflaws

A Police Department in Ohio is testing a handheld scanner that can scan the barcode on the back of a driver’s license, passport or other state issued ID. The information is then checked against information in multiple databases and the police know instantly the legal status, identity and who-knows-what-else about the person presenting the ID.

I did a little research on Mobilisa, the company that created the scanner. The company is made up of educated information technology people; many of them retired military. Initially the scanner was marketed to military bases and other government installations as a way to track people entering protected areas. You can watch a marketing video for the scanner here if you have Windows Media Player.

It’s not surprising to me that Law Enforcement would be eager to get their hands on this type of technology. Instant information at the swipe of a scanner–how can it get better than that?

I can’t help but wonder, though, about those database entries. Which databases? Where? Who collects and maintains the information? If there’s an error, how is it corrected? How is the data protected? And more importantly, why should I, a law-abiding citizen, be subjected to this intrusive search of my private records at a traffic stop?

The really sad thing is that on a poll presented by AOL over 70 percent of the respondents thought that this technology is A GOOD Thing.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 10th, 2007 at 5:03 pm and is filed under Privacy Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.