EU May Issue Passports With Embedded Data Chips
from the that-old-privacy-issue-again dept
Roland Piquepaille writes "According to the International Herald Tribune, "European Union governments may soon issue passports containing computer chips embedded with digital fingerprints or eye scans." No date has been fixed for the introduction of these passports, but in order to be in conformity with the U.S. Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002, passports with biometric identifiers should be issued no later than October 26, 2004. Of course, there are the usual justifications about security and passport counterfeiting, but what about our privacy? This summary contains some scary answers from Statewatch, a UK group monitoring civil liberties in the EU."
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
