Police will have access to a new database of fingerprints of work permit holders, the government has revealed.
Members of the Legislative Assembly last month passed an amendment to the immigration law, which requires people applying for or renewing work permits to be fingerprinted.
Leader of Government Business, Kurt Tibbetts, said at a Cabinet press briefing on Thursday morning that the fingerprinting system would make it possible for immigration officers to detect criminals and people using fake identities, but would also benefit police who could use the database.
‘A fingerprint database will also be a considerable asset to the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service when investigating crimes. For example, police officers who have obtained fingerprint evidence from the scene of a crime will be allowed to search the Immigration Department database for matches,’ Mr. Tibbetts said.
In response to questions from the Caymanian Compass on whether allowing police access to the fingerprint database would raise privacy issues, the Chief Immigration Officer Franz Manderson said: ‘Obviously, there would be concerns if we are just taking your fingerprints as a non-convicted person and storing it on a database with all other convicted person, but that is not the intention.
‘The intention is for the Immigration Department to maintain its database, but certainly if the police want to have access to it to check a fingerprint, I don’t see how we would not do it. We would not deny the request.’
He added: ‘We do not see at the moment that the police would have wholesale access to the system. There would have to be some level of request for them to have access to our database on a case by case basis.’
Mr. Manderson said he did not envision that police would need a court’s permission to search the database.
He said the Immigration Department and the police were aware of the privacy concerns relating to sharing fingerprint information and said discussions would be held to address this.
Mr. Manderson said the department had looked to other jurisdictions to see how they had handled implementing similar measures. ‘This is a new area for us. We want to make sure that we are doing it correctly, that we are not violating any person’s right to privacy.’
There is an average of three to four cases a year of people using false identities to work in Cayman, Mr. Manderson said. ‘That’s the number we know about, but what about the ones we miss? This is a way of ensuring that we are not missing anyone.’
Once the fingerprinting of work permit holders begins, it would take about two years to fingerprint the 27,000 work permit holders in Cayman, he said, since the majority of permits last for two years.
Those applying for a work permit must agree to have their fingerprints taken upon arrival in Cayman at the airport, while those renewing permits will have their prints taken at the Immigration headquarters seven days after receiving notification that permit approval has been given.
‘In both cases, the process will be quick. Once the fingerprints are taken they will be automatically be checked against our data base and should this raise any flags, appropriate steps will be taken,’ Mr. Tibbetts said.
Under Cayman Islands law, police officers cannot take fingerprints of an individual unless they have reasonable suspicion that a person has committed a crime.
The amendment to the immigration bill is awaiting the assent of the Governor before coming into effect.
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