# Would you suffer being fingerprinted in order to enter a country? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 7, 2007, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-suffer-being-fingerprinted-in-order-to-enter-a-country/418341 "2007-09-07T06:11:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-suffer-being-fingerprinted-in-order-to-enter-a-country/418341/1 "2007-09-07T06:11:43Z")
As you may know, the U.S. has, for some time now, instituted a system for the fingerprinting and photographing of all non-residents who come into the country. I went through Chicago airport last May and was processed (by the rude and obviously hungover customs official - perhaps that’s best left for another thread) quite quickly and with a minimum of fuss. But it did annoy me. Personally I prefer not to be fingerprinted, and certainly prefer not to have my fingerprints stored on some US database for all of eternity. If I was travelling for pleasure the answer could have been simple - don’t go to the US, but I was there for business at the request of my boss. Not really much I could do about it. Now, my own country of residence, Japan, is about to institute a similar system at customs and immigration - fingerprints and photographs for all non-Japanese (basically), so I’m curious as to what people feel about such systems - do they discourage tourism? Would you leave a country off your travel list because of fingerprinting and photographing requirements? ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-suffer-being-fingerprinted-in-order-to-enter-a-country/418341/2 "2007-09-07T06:14:17Z")
Nope. Already been fingerprinted many times for military clearances and such. One more time won’t hurt. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-suffer-being-fingerprinted-in-order-to-enter-a-country/418341/3 "2007-09-07T06:24:09Z")
I would not mind. Already been fingerprinted many times for military clearences so one more time won’t hurt. Actually with a few exceptions I can’t imagine what other countries would want with fingerprints, it’s not like many have the technological infrastructure to do anything with them. Japan and maybe 25 other countries excepted. ETA: Sorry for the double post. Dopeglitch prevented edit of previous post. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-suffer-being-fingerprinted-in-order-to-enter-a-country/418341/4 "2007-09-07T06:25:39Z")
I would be inconvenienced, I wouldn’t suffer ---
**Author:** ![cookeze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@cookeze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cookeze)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-suffer-being-fingerprinted-in-order-to-enter-a-country/418341/5 "2007-09-07T06:27:32Z")
Don’t come to California—they take a thumbprint when you apply for a driver’s license. And no, I don’t mnd. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-suffer-being-fingerprinted-in-order-to-enter-a-country/418341/6 "2007-09-07T06:53:31Z")
[QUOTE=cookeze] Don’t come to California—they take a thumbprint when you apply for a driver’s license. And no, I don’t mnd. [/QUOTE] Unfortunately I will have to go to California again in the future, but I’ll try and stop myself from applying for a driver’s license during my one-week stay. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![cookeze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@cookeze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cookeze)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-suffer-being-fingerprinted-in-order-to-enter-a-country/418341/7 "2007-09-07T07:01:55Z")
That’s okay, but if you stay a month you will need to apply for one. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-suffer-being-fingerprinted-in-order-to-enter-a-country/418341/8 "2007-09-07T07:04:38Z")
[QUOTE=cookeze] Don’t come to California—they take a thumbprint when you apply for a driver’s license. And no, I don’t mnd. [/QUOTE] Huh? Is this only for new citizens? I moved to Cali from WA and endured no such thumbprint when getting my license. ---
**Author:** ![cookeze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@cookeze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cookeze)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-suffer-being-fingerprinted-in-order-to-enter-a-country/418341/9 "2007-09-07T10:02:09Z")
From DMV’s page on getting your license: > **[California New License Application Info | DMV.ORG](https://www.dmv.org/ca-california/apply-license.php)** > > Learn how to apply for a driver's license in California. Halfway down the page it says: "Here’s what you need to be prepared to do on your driver’s license appointment day: Turn in your completed form DL 44. Have your thumbprint taken. Have your picture taken. Give your Social Security number. Have proof of your birth date and your legal presence in the United States. Give your true full name. Pay the $26 application fee. Pass a vision exam. Pass a traffic laws and sign test." When I gave my thumbprint there was a little scanner about the size of a computer mouse with a place to put your thumb. It only took a second to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-suffer-being-fingerprinted-in-order-to-enter-a-country/418341/10 "2007-09-07T10:50:32Z")
[QUOTE=Isamu] As you may know, the U.S. has, for some time now, instituted a system for the fingerprinting and photographing of all non-residents who come into the country. [/QUOTE] Really? I don’t remember having to do that. I know there are cameras on me at the airport, when I’m talking to the customs officials, but I don’t remember having to give a fingerprint (I could be wrong, though). And I’m fairly sure they’re not pulling everyone over at the Canadian border to register their fingerprints. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-suffer-being-fingerprinted-in-order-to-enter-a-country/418341/11 "2007-09-07T10:53:35Z")
I recently visited Las Vegas. 🆒 The customs official was polite and took my fingerprints quickly. It was well worth it to meet my first Dopers in real life! I understand that 9/11 has changed the way America treats foreigners, but I hope there will be careful consideration of any future security measures. Dictatorships usually start off by saying “This is for your protection.” They use names like ‘Department of Security’ and appeal to patriotism. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-suffer-being-fingerprinted-in-order-to-enter-a-country/418341/12 "2007-09-07T11:18:03Z")
Fingerprints? That’s nothing. Some judge has been calling for all visitors to the UK to give a [DNA](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6979138.stm) sample. Welcome to the Orwellian Island Theme Park! ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-suffer-being-fingerprinted-in-order-to-enter-a-country/418341/13 "2007-09-07T11:26:21Z")
I’ve been fingerprinted entering the US. What I find more invasive is the line of questioning you sometimes get from the INS guys, generally they’re sound though. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-suffer-being-fingerprinted-in-order-to-enter-a-country/418341/14 "2007-09-07T11:31:51Z")
“Suffer”? ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-suffer-being-fingerprinted-in-order-to-enter-a-country/418341/15 "2007-09-07T11:36:33Z")
I think it was Jay Leno who joked about this. He said something like “What’s the big deal? When I pay with a check at Costco, they take my fingerprint. So getting into the country is no more difficult than paying $73 for groceries. And the line moves faster, too” ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Il_Palazzo)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-suffer-being-fingerprinted-in-order-to-enter-a-country/418341/16 "2007-09-07T11:43:49Z")
I can not think of a situation where I would consider being fingerprinted to be “suffering.” It’s just another step in an ever tightening web of airline security. What ever. As for people pointing to such things to cry fascism, I think that’s a little paranoid. Often, security measures are, in fact, meant to protect the public (or at least put minds at ease.) ---
**Author:** ![Coil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Coil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coil)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-suffer-being-fingerprinted-in-order-to-enter-a-country/418341/17 "2007-09-07T11:52:06Z")
I visited Washington D.C on a business trip in May. I had to give them my fingerprints (index finger of both hands) and they also took a picture. I did not mind the process that much but I did not like the long line it resulted in. I also wonder a bit about what the US authorities think they are going to do with all the information they gather. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-suffer-being-fingerprinted-in-order-to-enter-a-country/418341/18 "2007-09-07T14:18:00Z")
[QUOTE=Coil] I also wonder a bit about what the US authorities think they are going to do with all the information they gather. [/QUOTE] Maybe they’re going into this business: [http://www.the-artists.org/graphics/dna-fingerprint-art.cfm](http://www.the-artists.org/graphics/dna-fingerprint-art.cfm) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-suffer-being-fingerprinted-in-order-to-enter-a-country/418341/19 "2007-09-07T14:37:46Z")
No big deal. Like the others, I’ve been fingerprinted so many times, and have the data in so many banks, one more set isn’t going to hurt. Now that they use the scanners, you don’t even have to get your fingers dirty. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-suffer-being-fingerprinted-in-order-to-enter-a-country/418341/20 "2007-09-07T14:41:52Z")
If I were in charge I would never let anyone like me into the US. I got fingerprinted to get into this county. Makes a sort of karmic balance that I need to get fingerprinted to get into that one. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-suffer-being-fingerprinted-in-order-to-enter-a-country/418341.md?page=2)