Cyprus-Forum.com

[Lilyput]

I'm gobsmacked! Our boy attends a well known, newly built, private school in Paphos and has just come home with a letter requesting permission to fingerprint him for biometrics to enable him to use the new library !!!!!!!!! I'm horrified.
How can this be ok?

[devil]

Your problem is one of a mindset. You associate fingerprints with criminals, but they are only a good means of identification, like a signature or a passport photo. If you like, your kid's fingers are the key to opening a door. There is nothing more sinister than that.

[Lilyput]

I think my concerns are a little wider than that of worrying about my child being labelled a criminal!
I suppose my main concern is that the introduction of biometric methods for something as trivial as a library card legitimises such methods in wider society. It is a short step from fingerprinting kids to compelling adults to carry ID cards which contain information about genetic profile / credit rating/political affiliation/associates/ etc.
It's just freakily disproportionate to the task of borrowing a book.

[paul]

welcome to big brother....

[T_C]

I think my concerns are a little wider than that of worrying about my child being labelled a criminal!
I suppose my main concern is that the introduction of biometric methods for something as trivial as a library card legitimises such methods in wider society. It is a short step from fingerprinting kids to compelling adults to carry ID cards which contain information about genetic profile / credit rating/political affiliation/associates/ etc.
It's just freakily disproportionate to the task of borrowing a book.

Good point...and lets not forget that we are against such things because we know what they can lead to, but todays kids are tomorrows adults!

By the time they're adults these kinds of things will be the norm

[Bill]

Personally I can't see anything wrong with it .

And as Turkish Cypriot say's it will be the normal way of life very soon anyway.

Bill

[Niki]

If you have nothing to hide what's the problem? It will act as protection to many people.

[T_C]

Nikki you have to remember that this is the beginning of this "big brother" era. We don't know to what degree this kind of technology will evolve and be used for in the future.

For instance watch this video...I'd like to know peoples opinions on this actually.

[T_C]

Just to add what may seem acceptable now may turn into something completely unacceptable in the future with no turning back and I think this is too big a risk to take when it comes to peoples identity and personal life.

With all the satelite technology I think it's scary what the future holds. They want you to think it's all about "security" and "if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about" but in the future all this technology will turn us into nothing more than products in a big supermarket.

[devil]

I would welcome universal chipping. The advantages would be enormous and the paranoia of perceived misuse is no different from today. Your information is already available in tens or even hundreds of databases, including on the MySQL database of this forum. The fact that you have a unique access number instead of hundreds of different means of access will just make life easier for you. Just think:
- you are taken ill and fall unconscious while travelling alone in Outer Mongolia. The Drs. scan your arm and have your entire medical history within seconds and can accordingly save your life, which would be impossible otherwise
- you arrive at LA airport on the third A380 to land in the last hour. Which do you prefer: stand in line for four hours while your passport is checked manually or simply walk through the gate into the baggage hall?
In both of the above hypotheses, the data is already on databases, but the doctor cannot access it without a complex series of safeguards that can take tens of hours to bypass and the immigration official has to scan your passport manually, take your fingerprint, check the data manually.
As to where you are: if you carry a cellphone, the police can trace your movements to the nearest cell (say, a km or two in open country, a few tens of metres in cities.)

I can see only advantages, provided that your ID no.-related data is restricted to those who need to know. For instance, the doctor has access only to your medical records and not to your criminal record and your banker does not have access to the fact you are a member of the Cyprus Forum. Each time you use your credit card a whole host of databases come into play, but you won't need a credit card or a forgettable PIN# if you have a chip in your arm.

As for the video, equating Auschwitz to the problem is ridiculous and stupid paranoia (a mental disease). You already have a passport #, a driving licence #, a health insurance #, a credit card #, a bank account #, a householder's policy #, an IP #, a telephone #, a car registration #, a patient # at your doctor's surgery and a different one at your dentist's, a tax-man's # and many more numbers in databases. What is wrong with making all these numbers the same for a given individual?

Those who are paranoid enough to oppose positive identification methods may be said to have a chip on their shoulder already (or they have something to hide)?