Biometrics used to control Internet access

The Naperville Public Library's decision to begin using biometrics to control patron access to the Internet has been a local issue in Chicago (and a controversy in library blogs). It went national with this NPR story: Chicago Libraries to Require ID Check for Internet Use. Naperville says that people were using other people's library cards to get Internet access, particularly minors using cards that gave them unfiltered access.

The library (and the biometrics firm) insists that images of the fingerprints are not stored, and that privacy is assured. But these arguments aren't working. Fingerprinting is tied too strongly to identification for law enforcement.

The story was also discussed in the May 20 edition of the Chicago Tribune.