Technical committee advises against TWIC encryption
National Maritime Security Advisory Committee says encryption would lead to higher costs, increased processing times, and roll-out delays, with little added security value; unencrypted fingerprint template offered as alternative
The roll-out of the Transportation Workers Identification Credential (TWIC) has run into another snag, providing yet another example of why we sometimes refer to it as the TWIT program. Despite contrary advice from DHS, the National Maritime Security Advisory Committee (NMSAC) — charged in 2006 with offering technology specifications for the program — late last month recommended that the card and its ancillary readers not be encrypted. “Encryption would not be acceptable at this point,” said co-chair Lisa Himber. “Encryption would create more problems than the extra protection it would afford.” These would include higher processing time, increased processing failures, and added costs. Instead, NMSAC recommended that TWIC employ an unencrypted fingerprint template. “There is no empirical evidence that encrypting the fingerprint template affords any additional protection of personal privacy,” the group reported.
-read more in Alice Lipowicz’s Washington Technology report
