Politech: FC: Texas police may order all businesses to collect fingerprints

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[From customers who pay by check, that is. But why stop there? Credit card 
fraud is a problem, so it makes sense to extend Operation Thumbs Up to such 
purchases. And even cash can be counterfeit -- why not fingerprint all 
customers, all the time? --Declan]
---

From: "Ben" <bmw () carolina rr com>
To: <Declan () well com>
Subject: 'Operation Thumbs Up' in Dallas
Date: Sun, 22 Sep 2002 15:43:11 -0400
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
        boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0007_01C2624E.C1DDB9A0"
X-Priority: 3
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal

<http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/3976347.htm>http<http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/3976347.htm>://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/3976347.htm 

"Police spokeswoman Christy Gilfour said the department is considering 
making the program mandatory."
---

<http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/3976347.htm>http<http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/3976347.htm>://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/3976347.htm 

   Police ask stores to take fingerprints
   By SUSAN SCHROCK
   Special to the Star-Telegram

   ARLINGTON - Police are asking businesses to voluntarily participate in
   a program to take customers' fingerprints if they pay by check.

   Operation Thumbs Up, scheduled to begin citywide Sunday, aims to help
   authorities identify check theft and forgery by obtaining a source of
   identification that can't be stolen or faked - fingerprints. The
   system is similar to those used by banks that require fingerprints on
   checks.

   "No longer can we rely on the driver's license as a valid form of
   identity when passing a check," Detective Kyle Gibson said. "We can't
   expect clerks to memorize every face in a line. By getting a print, we
   can place that person when the check was passed to get a successful
   prosecution."

   The program was announced Friday. Police spokeswoman Christy Gilfour
   said the department is considering making the program mandatory.

   [...]




-------------------------------------------------------------------------
POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list
You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice.
To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html
This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/
Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Like Politech? Make a donation here: http://www.politechbot.com/donate/
Recent CNET News.com articles: http://news.search.com/search?q=declan
CNET Radio 9:40 am ET weekdays: http://cnet.com/broadband/0-7227152.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------