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A NOVEL biometric identification system could counter many of the objections to ID card schemes such as the one being proposed by the UK government.

The system can unequivocally link a person to a particular ID card without having to match their biometric characteristics to data stored either on the card or on a central database.

A biometric is a unique measure of some facet of a person’s body – such as a fingerprint or an iris scan. By 2005, the International Civil Aviation Organisation wants such data incorporated in newly issued passports. And the UK government wants it in…

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