More Canadians support the use of biometric identifiers in government-issued identification, but worry that the costs might be prohibitive and that governments could abuse the system, a new survey says.
The survey, conducted by custom market information company, TNS, and TRUSTe, an on-line privacy provider, found that people in both Canada and the United States said the passport was the most important identifying document and therefore the most appropriate for the addition of biometric identifiers.
The idea was supported by 85 per cent of Canadians and 79 per cent of Americans.
Other kinds of documents considered include drivers' licences, social insurance cards (called social security cards in the U.S.) and provincial health insurance cards. All these also received strong support for biometric data.