The European Court of Justice ruled having fingerprints on ID cards was legal under EU privacy laws. The benefits of having such a system were key to preventing identity theft, it said.
We’ve had fingerprints in our ID cards for decades.
It’s fine. Quite useful, really. Less of a totalitarian state now than when they were introduced, actually.
I know in the anglo world the whole national ID card thing is seen as intrusive, but it’s kinda fine. I just know my number, which is great for some transactions, and I can get right by airport security without interacting with any humans just by tapping my biometric ID on a reader. Plus it can be upgraded to a full on digital signature certificate, although the implementation is terrible and I hate it.
Yeah, totalitarianism is kept in check by society being vigilent, not by hiding your fingers. This stuff can be put to good use (like making identity theft impossible, which is a huge quality of life improvement).
We’ve had fingerprints in our ID cards for decades.
It’s fine. Quite useful, really. Less of a totalitarian state now than when they were introduced, actually.
I know in the anglo world the whole national ID card thing is seen as intrusive, but it’s kinda fine. I just know my number, which is great for some transactions, and I can get right by airport security without interacting with any humans just by tapping my biometric ID on a reader. Plus it can be upgraded to a full on digital signature certificate, although the implementation is terrible and I hate it.
Yeah, totalitarianism is kept in check by society being vigilent, not by hiding your fingers. This stuff can be put to good use (like making identity theft impossible, which is a huge quality of life improvement).
“Impossible” is a big ask, social engineering still works, and for light checks all you need is your publicly available number.
But “a lot harder” is nice.
Almost all the passports around the world include biometric as well.