Canada eyes wider biometric info sharing among Five Eyes countries

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OTTAWA – Canada is eyeing a greatly expanded sharing of immigration information — such as fingerprints of visa applicants — with not only the United States but other key allies.

An internal memo prepared for Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander says the government is building an information technology system that could be used for systematic exchange of biometric data with Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

The federal government is already pursuing wide-scale sharing of immigration information with the United States under the perimeter security pact.

The federal privacy commissioner has expressed concerns about high-volume, routine information sharing with other countries, saying it may be impossible to control what happens to that data once sent abroad.

The government says such data sharing is essential to fight fraud and abuse of Canada’s immigration system.

The Canadian Press obtained the memos under the Access to Information Act.

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