<![CDATA[Gizmodo: immigration]]> http://tags.gizmodo.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/gizmodo.com.png <![CDATA[Gizmodo: immigration]]> http://gizmodo.com/tag/immigration http://gizmodo.com/tag/immigration <![CDATA[Million Dollar Border Security Machines Fooled with Ten Cent Tape]]> So much for biometrics and immigration security: A South Korean woman managed to fool a million-dollar fingerprint reading machine in Japanese border controls using a simple piece of tape stuck to her fingers.

It happened at Tokyo airport. The woman has repeatedly entered Japan using the same trick without anybody noticing. Japanese officials say that they suspect many others have been doing the same things, demonstrating that the biometric systems they installed in 30 airports in 2007—to the tune of $45 million—are completely useless. The woman was deported in July 2007 for illegally staying in Japan as a bar hostess in Nagano, but she entered again with the system, using the tape and a fake passport allegedly provided by a South Korean broker. [Sidney Morning Herald via Fashion Funky]

]]> http://gizmodo.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5122259&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Anti-Immigration Robot Secures Britain's Borders]]> Much like the United States, Britain has a bit of an illegal immigration problem. Tens of thousands risk their lives to cross into Britain each year by clinging underneath trucks transported on ferries. To combat this problem, BAE systems has provided the border agency with a robot dubbed "Hero" that is capable of ferreting out these stowaways using a combination of cameras and sensors. The device can check underneath vehicles and even detect heartbeats when fitted with the proper equipment. It can also be used to identify chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear materials being smuggled into the country.

Some of you may be wondering when the US going to get something like the Hero robot. Interestingly enough, the military has been testing a similar robot called Odis in Iraq and Afghanistan for some time now—but whether we will see one patrolling our borders in the States anytime soon remains to be seen. [BAE via Telegraph via Danger Room]

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