Senator Feinstein Announces Proposal to Establish
Corporation to Set Standards for Using Biometric
Technology to Prevent Terrorism
November 15, 2001

Washington, DC - At a hearing of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism, and Government Information, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) announced a proposal to establish a federally chartered corporation charged with mobilizing the government and private sector to test, evaluate, and set standards for using biometric technology to prevent terrorism.

"A number of experts--including the main biometric industry associations and the National Security Agency--have suggested that the industry is extremely fragmented, lacks minimum standards, and does not work well together, given the hyper-competitiveness of the companies," Senator Feinstein said. "Currently, for example, there are about 140 companies trying to sell hundreds of different, overlapping biometric devices of multiple types, including fingerprints, hands, irises, faces, retinas voice, and handwriting."

"To provide order, structure, and standards to the industry, I proposes that we explore the creation of a central clearing house that can test, evaluate, and set standards for biometric solutions. This center would involve both the government and private sector and recommend how to choose and deploy biometric solutions that help detect and deter terrorists."

Specifically, the center would be a federally chartered, non profit, tax-exempt corporation. It would involve the leading private sector biometric institutions, including the International Biometric Industry Association, the Biometric Foundation, and the Center for Identification Technology Research at West Virginia University.

In addition, the National Security Agency would be the initial coordinating agency for this center and could at the President's discretion be replaced by the Office of Homeland Security.

The center would work closely with the Biometric Management Office at the Department of Defense, which as been chartered and funded to provide advice about military uses of biometrics to all defense agencies.

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