EU Plans to Require Biometrics for Visitors 238
bushwhacker2000 writes to tell us that the EU may soon be requiring travelers to provide biometric data before crossing into Europe. They are trying to soften the blow by offering "streamlined" services for frequent travelers but the end result seems the same. "The proposals, contained in draft documents examined by the International Herald Tribune and scheduled to go to the European Commission on Wednesday, were designed to bring the EU visa regime into line with a new era in which passports include biometric data. The commission, the EU executive, argues that migratory pressure, organized crime and terrorism are obvious challenges to the Union and that the bloc's border and visa policy needs to be brought up to date."
Falls rome, falls the world (Score:5, Insightful)
One of the reasons I'm so worried to see the downward trend towards fascism in the United States is that in many ways Europe is not going in the opposite direction, it is simply lagging behind. Sure, I came to live in Switzerland, but I'm always seeing the same political abuses start to happen here just a few years after they start to happen in the United States, the same pro-corporations laws like the DMCA and the same trampling on people's rights, just a bit delayed.
Somehow this happening in the EU does not really surprise me.
Re:Hmm (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, to be fair, we started it. [bbc.co.uk]
Nit: Since when ... (Score:4, Insightful)
The level of paranoia is growing exponentially (Score:5, Insightful)
Personally, I think this nonsense has more to do with xenophobia, racism, and political control than with combating actual terrorism.
Re:It's America's fault (Score:2, Insightful)
This is just tit-for-tat: the US requires the same things of Europeans entering the US, and the EU is returning the favor.
Re:Great! (Score:4, Insightful)
Chad. They have no biometrics at the border - you can just stroll right in, with nary a fingerprint reader or retina scanner in sight.
Do bring a machete, though.
Great idea... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Hmm (Score:1, Insightful)
It is real simple, both are way to happy that the other checks their citizens in a way they can not do themselves because their own laws do not allow that.
The home of the free is not that free anymore. Mostly because the bave are not that brave anymore either.
Re:Hmm (Score:3, Insightful)
Umm, both America and Europe now. Maybe it's time to refresh the tree of liberty with the blood of tyrants?
More of the same gruel (Score:2, Insightful)
The 'Empire' is slowly moving from Utopian Europe to a darker phase.
And yes, I know, I know, if you have done nothing wrong you have nothing to fear. Only these people love to create new things wrong you may have done. In the UK now, if you smoke, drink, or happen to be fat, suddenly you've been added to the list. That autocratic disease is spreading.
You can bet your bottom dollar biometrics will be in the front line of 'taxing' holiday makers and frequent flyers, only the beginning off course - Plenty more to follow.
400 million WILL eventually regret allowing their leaders to create a new dictatorship, its just going to take time for people to wake up to the monster they have allowed to be created.
Re:Hmm (Score:5, Insightful)
Presumably... (Score:4, Insightful)
The chipped passports have a copy of what is printed on the face plus the extra biometric bits, all of which is also stored in a database, including reconciled entries for your previous visits through passport control. If the printed information or chip output differ from the central copy, they know it has been tampered with. This is not a terribly large departure from what already has been happening for decades when they scan your passport or punch in the number to pull up the record manually. The only difference in any of this is that they're adding a couple extra fields that don't really lend themselves to visual inspection. The cross-border data sharing and centralized collection within each country isn't remotely a new idea.
Besides, the more "secure" the document gets in the sense of positively linking it to the person carrying it, the less frightful the consequences of losing it. Not long ago, if you were roughly the same height/weight/age/gender, you could pretty well just pick a passport out of a stack provided by the hotel maid service. I mean, 6'1" brown/brown 180lbs 30yo male isn't a very precise set of biometrics, which doesn't sound too terrible until someone matching your description smuggles drugs into the country on your passport before you realize it went missing. If they can solve the question of "is this REALLY you" with an iris scan and a fingerprint, roughly 99.9% of the stolen document industry will disappear leaving only the most ridiculous James Bond worthy scenarios to worry about.
The bottom line is that the document is an assertion of the holder's identity. You have a personal interest in ensuring that you are the only one who can use it to successfully make that assertion.
Re:Hmm (Score:5, Insightful)
Too bad most people in the modern world are perfectly content with losing their rights, provided that they still have their blackberries, TVs, cheap gasoline, houses and the illusion of security from terrorists.
Yeah, it's probably not as bad as all that, but it sure does feel that way sometimes, doesn't it?
Re:Falls rome, falls the world (Score:3, Insightful)
Let ye who is without sin cast the first stone, and all that.
To the victors go the spoils, and better yet, they get to write the histories. That's the way it has always been, and is the way it will always be. One of the most disappointing things I notice about people in other countries (yes, especially Europeans of various stripes) is the fundamental hypocrisy typified by your comment. Hold us to a higher standard if you like, put us on some kind of worthless pedestal. Just remember that we never asked you to, never claimed to be better than you (even though we often acted better than you) and don't expect us to feel sorry for you when you finally realize the truth. Deal with it. We won't lose any sleep over your discomfiture, believe me. Furthermore, much of Europe's history has been bloodier than ours (you call Bush a tyrant, but frankly Europe has it all over the U.S. in the tyrant department, you guys are true experts at breeding warmongering headcases.) Deal with that too, when you grow up enough to turn that critical eye upon yourself.
Keep in mind, also, that much of what has happened to America since the end of World War II can be directly traced to Europe's inability to keep the lid on, to manage it's own affairs sufficiently well that a psychopathic asshole like Hitler could be kept in check. Try to minimize America's role in that conflict as much as you want (speaking of perverse revisionist history) but the reality is that the United States, its people, and its political system took a big hit from our involvement. Frankly, looking at how things turned out since them, I'm starting to believe that our earlier isolationist policies weren't such a bad idea. That war cost us, on so many levels, and we're still paying for it
Think of this also: much as you dislike the United States' current policies, there's much worse than us loose in the world. Take China, for example: that is not a friendly nation, it's out for blood. Don't count Russia out yet either, as militaristic totalitarian states go. So, when the United States' "empire" has fallen, when our military has pulled back to our shores, you'd best look to your own defense because we won't be there this time around.
Re:Falls rome, falls the world (Score:4, Insightful)
Are you aware that pretty much everyone who was involved in the success and failures of WWII is dead? That blaming a country now is like blaming America for the genocide of the native Americans whereas the people involved with the war in Iraq and the Patriot Act is alive and well.
I mean can you really blame people for something that happened before they were born?
Not So Funny When The Tables Are Turned, Eh? (Score:2, Insightful)
I hope this current news item forces these folks to realize that this isn't just a US problem, it's a global problem with paranoia. And until there's global political climate change, flying internationally is just going to become more and more of a hassle for everyone.
Re:Hmm (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Hmm (Score:4, Insightful)
It erodes your rights because the Government (at least here in the States, dunno about down under) would usually need probable cause before it could compel you to turn over biometrics (DNA, fingerprints, etc). I.e: You'd need to be accused of a crime with at least some underlying evidence before they could compel you to turn it over.
Ah, but now they can demand them to get a passport (or worse yet: drivers license). If you complain the answer will invariability be something along the lines of "Well, travel is a privilege and not a right". As if the Government is a parent that gets to dole out "permission" to the children before they can do stuff.
Re:How can I fight this? (Score:2, Insightful)
Armed insurrection.
For somewhat less impact, writing to your local elected representative and your European parliament members may be a less dramatic and more appropriate starting point.