[IP] Re: Good comments on (djf) fingerprinting in Japan

[David Farber]

   Begin forwarded message:
   From: Jonathan Weinberg <[1]weinberg at msen.com>
   Date: November 23, 2007 1:50:59 PM EST
   To: David Farber <[2]dave at farber.net>
   Subject: Re: [IP] Re:   fingerprinting in Japan 
   Joi's absolutely right (as were other folks who wrote to me off-list)
   that the US does requires photography and fingerprinting from folks
   *applying* for immigrant visas and green cards -- so it would be wrong
   to say that the US program is much  less privacy-intrusive than
   Japan's just by virtue of not requiring "every time" fingerprinting
   for green card holders.  (Joi's also right that the US program is
   broader than Japan's in that DHS makes even folks just passing through
   as transit visitors satisfy full visa and fingerprinting requirements,
   and in his broader point that US citizens complaining about Japan's
   program are finding a mote in another's eye while ignoring the beam in
   their own.)
   There's still something interesting going on here, though,
   regarding "every time" fingerprinting for green card holders.  Japan
   has instituted "every time" fingerprinting for permanent residents
   *even though* permanent residents in Japan have already been
   fingerprinted and photographed for their alien registration cards.
   That approach is consistent with a key professed reason for the US
   fingerprinting requirement, which is to ensure that the
   person presenting herself at the border is the same person to whom the
   travel documents were issued.  If the US DHS really, really took
   seriously its desire to make sure that people weren't entering the US
   with forged or stolen green cards, it would require "every
   time" fingerprinting of permanent residents just as Japan seems to
   be doing.  But it's apparently decided that it doesn't want to deal
   with the political fallout of such a move; in terms of their ability
   to push back politically, folks entering the US on temporary visas
   or through the Visa Waiver Program are an easier target.
   Jon
   Jonathan Weinberg
   Professor of Law, Wayne State University
   [3]weinberg at wayne.edu

   From: Joichi Ito <[4]jito at neoteny.com>
   Date: November 22, 2007 4:26:14 PM EST
   To: [5]dave at farber.net
   Cc: [6]ip at v2.listbox.com
   Subject: Re: [IP] Re:   fingerprinting in Japan
   The US requires fingerprints for many kinds of visas including some
   benefits for permanent residents. Also, I think they require a
   photograph showing your earlobe as another biometric. It's on your
   card. It is slightly different from requiring a finger print every
   time you enter the country, but it's not really true that
   "fingerprinting requirements don't apply to permanent residents."
   See: [7]http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9a
   c89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=b6629c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD
   &vgnextchannel=b6629c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD
   Also, as far as I know, the Japanese are not fingerprinting transit
   passengers. My understanding is that even if you are just connecting
   via a US city, you still have to fill out the forms and get scanning.
   Basically I think that expecting us to go through US fingerprinting to
   visit the US, then deciding not to go to Japan because of
   fingerprinting is slightly hypocritical unless you have been vocally
   opposed to the fingerprinting in the US.
   Anyway, maybe this is a good opportunity for American who travel to
   Japan to take a good look at what the US does to its visitors and be
   reflective. I think a lot of Japanese government behavior just tracks
   what the US does and often is "encouraged" by the US. See crypto
   exports, the new Japanese corporate law or "JSOX" and copyright terms
   for other examples.
   - Joi
     _________________________________________________________________

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References

   1. mailto:weinberg at msen.com
   2. mailto:dave at farber.net
   3. mailto:weinberg at wayne.edu
   4. mailto:jito at neoteny.com
   5. mailto:dave at farber.net
   6. mailto:ip at v2.listbox.com
   7. http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=b6629c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=b6629c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD
   8. http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
   9. http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
  10. http://www.listbox.com/

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