Trusted-traveler cards would authorize passengers to bypass extensive security screening at airport checkpoints. The Israeli government instituted a trusted-traveler program five years ago in an effort to speed up long lines at airport security checkpoints.
The electronic card would have an encoded biometric description of the owner to ensure that the person using it is the same person identified on the card. Biometrics refers to computerized systems that identify a unique part of each person’s anatomy, such as fingerprints, facial structure or irises. Washington Times
Strikes me as akin to — but of course vastly more insidious than — the ‘trusted shopper’ cards they try to push on me at the supermarket, the chain bookstore (ugh!) and chain pharmacy (is there any other kind anymore??) at which I shop when for a moment I lose the sense that usually steers me toward my local independent merchants. They entice you with promised discounts when the real agenda, of course, is building an extensive profile of your shopping behavior. I always refuse the sales representative’s offer and try to engage them in a dialogue about why I’m refusing. They must be trained specifically in how to deal with this frontal assault — uniformly, no matter what store, they stiffen, become stony, stop making eye contact and offer no response, neither critically nor understandingly.
