空中飞人的福音：一种更好的指纹扫描器

    试想一下，你刚从飞了15小时的国际航班上走下来，作为美国政府主导的“全球通关”计划（Global Entry program）的会员，你满心以为可以快速通关入境，却发现扫描器无法读取你的指纹。

    对于这种情景，旅行常客在线论坛FlyerTalk上的窍门是，将手指在（你自己或其他人的）油性皮肤上按一下，然后再去扫描。在2013年，要让（指纹识别）这种被政府广泛使用的昂贵技术正常工作，以上方法听起来可能有些粗鲁，但放心吧：你进出的机场或许不久就会装备新一代的扫描器。

    交叉匹配技术（Cross Match Technologies）是一家位于美国佛罗里达州的公司，其生产的扫描设备被应用于全球通关计划，该公司最近开始生产一种更加用户友好的机器，以期更好地处理麻烦指纹带来的挑战（交叉匹配公司同样为生物识别信息管理办公室供应扫描器，后者使用3,000台仪器在出入境口岸采集指纹）。

    全球通关计划的发言人不愿透露新扫描器部署计划的具体细节，只称美国海关与边境保护署（CBP，该机构负责主持全球通关计划）——“一直在评估正在服役设备的状况和使用寿命”，该机构将“使用升级后的型号代替现有的型号，因为旧设备已经开始老化。”

    全球通关是面向受信任旅客的一项计划，其150万经常进行国际旅行的会员能够直接通过一个无人值守亭完成入境手续，不需要排队或等待，登记该计划的旅客只需要扫描自己的护照和指纹就能快速通关。

    全球通关计划在2008年推出，获得了如潮好评，诸如“全球通关计划（的手续费）是我花得最值的一笔钱”这样的微博并不罕见，同样，对美国联邦政府推出如此高效计划感到惊奇的人也有不少。全球通关计划的负责人约翰•瓦格纳表示自己经常听到大家说：“我无法相信是政府在主持这项计划！”

    强大的口碑正在推动新的增长：2012年之前，每月平均约有15,000人申请加入全球通关计划，而这个数字现在已经达到50,000人左右。另外，该计划还因为被当成一种特殊待遇而流行，举例来说，美国运通（American Express）会为其白金卡和黑金卡客户垫付那100美元的手续费。瓦格纳预期，参加全球通关计划的会员在旅客中的比例将会提高到15%至20%。

    Imagine that you step off a 15-hour international flight with plans to zip right through immigration thanks to your membership in the government-run Global Entry program -- only to find that the scanner can't read your fingerprints.

    In that scenario, the conventional wisdom at FlyerTalk, an online forum for frequent travellers, is to press your finger on an oily patch of skin (yours or someone else's) and try again. That may sound like a crude way to get to a piece of expensive, widely used government technology to work in 2013, but take comfort: A new generation of scanners may be landing in your airports soon.

    Cross Match Technologies, the Florida-based manufacturer of the scanning equipment used by the Global Entry program, has recently begun production of a more user-friendly machine designed to better deal with the challenges posed by the finicky human fingerprint. (Cross Match also supplies scanners to the Office of Biometrics Information Management, which uses 3,000 of its machines at entry and exit ports to collect fingerprints.)

    A spokesperson for Global Entry would not provide specifics about the program's plans to implement the new scanners, saying only that the U.S. Department of Customs and Border Protection, which runs Global Entry, is "always evaluating the condition and service life of the equipment in the field" and that it will "replace current models with updated models as older units begin to fade."

    Global Entry is a trusted traveler program that allows its 1.5 million globetrotting members to pass straight through immigration without the line or long wait at an unmanned kiosk. Enrolled travellers simply scan their passport, scan their fingerprints, and fly on by.

    The program, which launched in 2008, has received widespread, ecstatic acclaim -- tweets like "Global Entry is the best money ever spent" are not uncommon, nor is wonder that federal government has created something that works so well. John Wagner, the program's director, says he often hears: "I can't believe the government is running this program!"

    That strong word of mouth is driving new growth: Applications to Global Entry averaged about 15,000 per month prior to 2012 but are now averaging around 50,000 per month. The program is also catching on as a perk -- American Express (AXP), for example, covers the $100 fee for its Platinum and Centurion card customers. Wagner expects Global Entry will one day extend to 15 to 20% of all travelers.