We don't need biometric IC ARCs

On June 23, the National Immigration Agency (NIA) said that electronic alien resident certificates (ARC) using advanced integrated circuit (IC) anti-forgery technology would replace the existing paper cards starting today. However, there is no legislation governing the collection of foreigners' biometric data.

The agency prevaricates by saying that the legislature will pass such legislation during its next session and, thus, the NIA seems to think that as long as it carries out the plan, the legislature will have no choice but to endorse it.

One of the reasons for the new ARCs is to prevent forgery but the same result could be achieved based on the new national identification (ID) card, which contains 21 anti-forgery features. In other words, given the lack of a legal foundation, there would be no need to spend the more than NT$10 million (US$303,000) from the Council of Labor Affairs' employment stability fund to issue the new IC ARCs.

Leaving aside the issue of whether it is appropriate to use the council's employment stability fund in this way, the problem of disappearing foreign workers will not be resolved by coming up with new ways of identifying and arresting these people. Rather, the problem should be solved by amending the foreign labor employment laws and regulations to allow them to change employers. That would eliminate one of the main reasons for foreign laborers running away.

I also have to wonder whether collecting biometric data will be an effective method of preventing forgery. The information on the IC cards will be the same as the information on the paper cards; therefore, it will be impossible to tell the difference between an authentic and a counterfeit ARC simply by looking at it.

Unless agency staff carry card and fingerprint readers and face recognition equipment and have access to the Internet to retrieve real-time database information at all times, talk about using biometric indicators to prevent forgery is all hot air. The more detailed the personal information collected in a database, the higher the risk that it may be leaked.

Many Taiwanese may think that the protection of this data has nothing to do with them, but the personal information held will also contain detailed information about their Taiwanese employers and spouses.

When the agency illegally purchased its biometric indicator system earlier this year and said it would exchange information with other nations in the future, it clearly showed that it does not take the protection of personal data very seriously. Nobody knows when or what kind of personal information the NIA will give out.

Finally, according to the agency's plan, its drive to prevent forgery and eliminate the illegal foreign labor problem will not be accomplished until all paper cards are replaced by Jan. 1, 2009. If the authorities really want to deal with these issues, they can do so right now by improving Taiwan's foreign labor policies, and adopting new anti-forgery paper cards which would be much cheaper and faster to implement than the new IC cards. In addition to spending a lot of money, the agency has no justifiable reason for its push to introduce the IC cards.

The agency has purposely hidden other facts. It told the public that the fee for replacing ARCs will be reduced from NT$1,000 to NT$500 to ease the burden on foreign residents. However, it did not say that since the space on the back of paper cards that is used when extending an ARC will not appear on the new card, it will be necessary to apply for new cards when extending an ARC. With the old cards, foreigners only need to pay NT$1,000 when applying for a new card every four years, but under the new policy, they will be forced to pay NT$500 when applying for a new card every year. Thus, the cost for foreigners will not decrease, they will pay double.

While the deposit for the similar EasyCard is NT$100, for the IC ARC cards it will be NT$500. This all raises the question of whether the agency is trying to benefit the contractor. In response to foreigners' complaint that the NT$10,000 fee for a permanent ARC is too high, the agency says the fee for US green cards is about the same, and that permanent residence permits in Canada and Japan are more expensive.

What it does not mention, however, is that the average national income in the US, Canada and Japan is twice that of Taiwan.

As the authority in charge of the nation's immigration affairs, the NIA should help new immigrants fit into Taiwan's society, so they can be accepted by the public and help contribute to Taiwan. Unfortunately, the agency has repeatedly intimidated the public by portraying immigrants as spies, terrorists or criminals who may disturb public order. Its discrimination against them has been the cause of much suspicion and fear between the Taiwanese and new immigrants. It will now be very difficult for the agency to escape responsibility if ethnic discrimination and conflict occurs in Taiwan.

Wu Chia-pei is deputy secretary-general of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights.

Translated by Lin Ya-ti and Eddy Chang