The establishment of identity is one of the central and insuperable problems of modern philosophy. In practical terms, the establishment of identity is predicated upon certain legal documents, for example a passport with a photograph and a signature. This is by no means foolproof. Photographs can be replaced and signatures can be forged. The discovery of fingerprinting and the full implications of the discovery offered what seemed to be an incontrovertible proof of identity. Since no two sets of fingerprints are ever alike, the record of fingerprints of a person would be the proof of his identity. It is because of this that the government of the United States of America, with its heightened awareness of security after the destruction of the World Trade Center, has decided to fingerprint new arrivals to the US. This has angered many countries including India. The basis of this anger is somewhat incomprehensible. If science has provided a method to establish a person’s identity then it should be used and used extensively across the world. All countries should introduce the fingerprinting of new arrivals. There is no point in being either squeamish or belligerent about this. It is always better to be safe than angry.

The points against fingerprinting are all of a practical nature. The process is time consuming, messy and cumbersome. It is the last thing that one wants to encounter immediately after arriving in a new country. But this is a small price to pay for safety. Other, more sophisticated methods of establishing identity are also being experimented with. One of them is the retina which is unique to every individual. This method, when perfected, will be less time-consuming as it will entail looking into a machine. But this science is still not a perfect art. Till such time it acquires the required level of perfection and infallibility, there is no other alternative to fingerprinting. It is a condition that must be accepted as a way of modern life. It is one of the great contemporary paradoxes that the smaller and the more globalized the world is becoming, the greater has become the threat perceptions of human beings. Terrorism can strike anywhere at any time since, by definition, terrorism is random and aimed at innocent people. A foolproof method of establishing identity and of recording it is a small step towards the erasure of that fear and threat. To see in it a full-blown conspiracy on the part of the US is to go somewhat over the top. One way to eliminate the idea of conspiracy is to make fingerprinting the standard practice all over the world.