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| Russian President Vladimir Putin |
President Vladimir Putin has issued a
new order requiring all foreign visitors to submit a fingerprint upon entry
into Russia. This law is set to take place on December 10, 2014.
It is set in place in order to improve law enforcement, prevention of legal
migration, and barring terrorists from entering the country. Putin has a plan
that may outdo the IAFIS, which only contains fingerprints only in the United
States, by creating system that contains fingerprints from everyone in the
entire world.
Do you think Putin is being unfair or
unreasonable or do you think this is something the United States should probably
invest in? It is much easier to fake a passport then to fake a fingerprint. If illegal
immigrants or convicts of other countries are trying to make an entry, they
will have a much more difficult time in Russia. Yes, this may also be a
violation of rights to many and even myself but with the world today I feel as
though giving up a fingerprint isn’t that detrimental.
Russia has been threatened by a lot of
nations of late after invading Ukraine. This system put in place is mainly a protection
system for them. Their geographic location enables for many immigrants to cross
over into the nation since the country is so large that it borders several
nations. With the migration issues in Syria and Iraq, a lot of people have begun
scattering to surrounding nations for survival due to the increasing threat of
ISIS. This has caused increased issues for the nations who are harboring these
people because a lot of these nations are unable to take in hundreds of
thousands of refugees. Resources become overused and demolished which ruins the
infrastructure.
Knowing this information, can you blame
Russia for being a little concerned? A nation in which everything is mostly
government controlled could easily have their system threatened. Putin forcing
visitors to be fingerprinted isn’t the worst thing this country has done. In
fact, he may have single handedly created a method in which scares people from
trying to cross over so easily. If this fingerprint system was set in place
over 30 years ago, many immigrants would find it impossible to enter the
country especially since fingerprints are specific to individuals.
Would it be a good idea for the United
States to implement a fingerprint policy in order to prevent illegal immigrants
from entering the nation and leaving again? This policy could help prevent the
issue of illegal immigration. Fingerprinting as mentioned before can identify
any individual. Also, if a printed illegal immigrant is caught, he/she can be
identified a lot easier. This could help eliminate a huge portion of crime
especially if immigrants are being fingerprinted upon entry.
Putin may have created a revolution for
customs for nations all around the world if this new system succeeds and does
well. If this system backfires and prevents people from wanting to go to Russia
could really hurt their economy as well in the long run.
References:
http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/axx1.jpg
”Putin orders fingerprinting of all
foreigners arriving in Russia.” (2014, November 25). Retrieved November 25,
2014
http://rt.com/politics/208615-foreigners-biometric-fingerprinting-russian/
The fact that any visitor has to give the government of Russia, that they are not a part of or can even vote for, a piece of their biological information is absolutely ludicrous. Here at George Mason University, they are trying to implement bio-metric scanners for students to be able to access their meal plans. I refused to allow the university to have this sort of information so I pulled my meal plans from my account and got my money refunded to me. There is no reason for a government or public facility to have that sort of information on somebody at any point in time unless they had gotten themselves in trouble. I know that simply because of that I will not be traveling to Russia any time soon.
ReplyDeleteI personally think it's a great idea. This will deter terrorism and illegals from entering as well. This can make the United States a much more safe place. Also I like the fact that you can identify criminals easier as well. I feel we need to make our country a safer place and if it takes scanning your fingerprint, so be it. Your "biological information" is like bread crumbs, it is everywhere anyway. You leave fingerprints everywhere..if we can use it to deter ISIS, terrorism, illegal immigrants, etc. I'm ok with that.
ReplyDeleteWell this post is like a loaded cannon, I can't agree but I can't disagree. Yes, it seems like a violation of rights but at the same time, if you're thinking about the safety of your country, it is a good idea. But with the face of biometrics starting to come into light, wouldn't it be easy to steal someone's fingerprint or face? I'm sure it's not as easy as forging a passport, but sometime in the future, someone will figure out how to get around their tactics. But, for someone that is planning to visit a country, I don't think they should be subject to this kind of outrageous measure.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree and side with Ash and Wallace, Russia is most definitely overstepping their boundaries by requiring people who are not even citizens of Russia to abide by Russian mandates. I believe his idea that it is to boost law enforcement is a ruse and is very ironic considering the fact he just marched into Ukraine on his own agenda. If fingerprints are more unique than passports I believe that makes them more valuable also. I cannot imagine this system being used only for the protection of Putin's citizens. On the other hand if the entire world were to agree upon this to share and collect fingerprints of all people I may not have as much of a problem with it as I do now.
ReplyDeleteHmm…this topic is really interesting, I don’t know how I would feel about all the countries I visit having my fingerprint…not that I would be doing anything illegal but it just seems weird because it’s something new that I am not used to. I know that I’d never do anything illegal so I guess for me its ok and for terrorists and criminals it’s a great idea. Overall I don’t know if I agree or disagree if this should happen in the U.S. as well but let’s just see what happens in Russia first and maybe we would learn more about it.
ReplyDeleteVijay, I have really enjoyed reading your posts. They have been highly informative on a very neat topic. With that being said, Putin is the man. He literally does whatever he wants regardless of what the world says about it. I guess there is a reason he was voted the most influential person of 2013, I believe, don’t quote me on that. I think the US should consider doing something of this sort. It would allow us to keep tabs on people who come over here and ensure they leave. At least if they do stay we will have some kind of record on them. I do agree that it would be very expensive though and give our situation now I don’t know if that is in our budget. So I am assuming they would put it in airports? I feel like we have a problem with people sneaking in already so some may still get around this. All in all, very interesting post, and if I see the US institute something like this in the future I’ll think of you. Good job though, best of luck in the future.
ReplyDeleteI have to tell you I like this blog and the large amount of controversy that it brings. It touches on very important subjects of personally identification methods being collected and stored in one location. There are many pros and cons for this. I am an avid promoter for biometric technology as it does provide the best method to secure information by verifying who the person is. We use it everywhere in the military and that is a perfect example because I don’t believe we would implement a software for the armed forces that is not secure. With that being said, your biometrics are very powerful and in the wrong hands they can have severe consequences. You can do research on stories where criminals have stolen fingerprints and used them to set up innocent individuals for crimes they did not commit.
ReplyDeleteVijay,
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a very good point in asking if this is unreasonable or not. I personally think it is a great insurance to have to protect the country. Your blog posts have shed new light on fingerprints that most people know nothing about. You did very well in signifying the importance of fingerprints. I see no harm in supplying a fingerprint, then is no harm unless you commit a crime. With the large amount of fake passports, IDs, etc. this could very well be the next step in identification.
Vijay,
ReplyDeleteThis post is very interesting. I can't seem to agree or disagree but I stand in the middle. Yes, it can stop illegal immigrants from coming into the country but then that means your fingerprint will be in the system forever. I'm not sure I'd want any machine to have my fingerprint. What if it were to malfunction or be taken over and used against people? Maybe having their fingerprint on classified evidence or something like that. I'm not sure it would be a terrible idea but a lot of planning and advising would need to be done before it is even considered in the US. Great post !