From: harkcom@spinach.pa.yokogawa.co.jp (Alton Harkcom)
Subject: Re: Fingerprinting Gaijin
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 00:04:20 GMT
	<1992Nov18.060308.27770@leland.Stanford.EDU><1992Nov18.140505.608@udel.edu>
	<SMITTIE.92Nov18115018@tui.csulb.edu> <7457@bigbird.hri.com.hri.com>
Organization: Yokogawa Electric Corporation, Tokyo, Japan

In article <7457@bigbird.hri.com.hri.com> blamb@hri.com (Bill Lambert) writes:

 =}=> Mr. Fester and Mr. Harkcom will probably have something to say about
 =}=> this since we've had this discussion before and will all ended up on
 =}=> different sides of the fence then.
 =}
 =}With three people, how do you all end up on different sides of the fence.
 =}Knowing all three, I suspect that you all may have ended up on the same
 =}side of different fences.

   One of us is staddling the fence :)
[So you know were the splinters are lodged...  :(  ]

 =}Myself? I suppose yet another fence. By itself, the act of fingerprinting is
 =}not such a bad or degrading thing, but how are they used by the government?

   An important question (not only for Japan either)...

   In the US and Japan, the good purpose that fingrprinting serves is to
provide identification for someone who has not been in the US long enough
to have other records available (school records or any records which can be
used to identify someone) for use in proving the identity of a corpse...
For someone who was born in a certain country then there is no need for
such a practice though it might be enforced to make things 'fair' to all
non-citizens.  Up to this point I have no beef...

   How the government or government agencies use the collected fingerprints
is another question...  I don't know about the US but the way some agencies
use the fingerprints isn't exactly 'polite'...  When there is a crime in
the area which provides a decent print, the police use all available prints
for comparison (this is usually denied, but in fact it is done [personal
experience and 'confession' from a detective friend]).  In other words,
they compare the recovered print to those of Japanese criminals and all
the foreigner's prints 'on hand'...  It is up to the individual to decide
for themselves whether or not this is a bad practice.  It is however a
discriminatory practice.  For those that feel that all available sources
should be checked, think about what Mr. Lamb said:

	=}As the government doesn't require the fingerprinting
	=}of its home born citizens,

So to not be discriminatory but practical, the government should tap all
sources, including its citizens...

   BTW: I better state my own opinion before all of the incorrect
assumptions are made...  I'm for either approach.  But I'm against
discrimination.  So either make it a practical system whereby the
governemnt treats everyone suspiciously, or stop using foreigners
fingerprints in criminal investigations unless (like the Japanese)
they have committed criminal acts...

 =}(PS - My wife and I are currently gathering "proof" of our life to
 =}satisfy the INS for removal of conditional status of her permanent
 =}residency. As someone who is somewhat watchful about privacy issues,
 =}I think the whole process stinks. But... she doesn't have to be
 =}fingerprinted a second time.)

   The song "Suspicious Minds" is a good reminder of what we're in for
if our governments continue being suspicious...  [No, that wasn't meant
as support for treason]...
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan