fingerprint.gifWashingtonpost.com

The European Commission will propose tomorrow that all foreign travelers entering and leaving Europe, including U.S. citizens, should be fingerprinted. If approved by the European Parliament, the measure would mean that precisely identifying information on tens of millions of citizens will be added in coming years to databases that could be shared by friendly governments around the world.

The United States already requires that foreigners be fingerprinted and photographed before they enter the country. So does Japan. Now top European security officials want to follow suit, with travelers being fingerprinted and some also having their facial images stored in a Europe-wide database, according to a copy of the proposal obtained by The Washington Post. U.S. government computers now have access to data on financial transactions; air travel details such as name, itinerary and credit card numbers; and the names of those sending and receiving express-mail packages — even a description of the contents.

“With biometric data, it’s much easier to track people and know who has come in and who has gone out, including possible terrorists,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly. “It seems like a steamroller,” said Sophie in ‘t Veld, a Dutch member of parliament who follows privacy and security issues. “There is a new trend in particular in the U.S., the E.U. and Australia to register every single detail of our life. We’re tagged. They can follow everything we do. They know where we are. The whole question is: What for? Does this actually make the world a safer place?”

The Bush administration says it does.

I will be happy to submit my fingerprints, DNA, body scan, facial scan, psych evaluation, sperm sample, laptop, cell phone, contents of my wallet, shoes, socks, toe jam, and anything else necessary to fight terrorism. Have I left anything out?




  1. I’ve been fingerprinted too many times to care all that much. I guess I’m getting numb to that one. It’s too bad because intellectually, it is somewhat of a big deal.

    I was fingerprinted for my first job as a defense contractor 20 years ago. I’ve been fingerprinted for work in financial institutions large and small. I have a vague recollection of being digitally fingerprinted for entry into Brazil in 2004, but it might have been some other trip to South or Central America.

    (aside)
    It probably was Brazil. We treat their citizens so badly for entry into this country, assuming all of their law abiding citizens to be drug dealers and/or people who want to come and stay here illegally, that they’re just returning a bit of the attitude we’ve got towards them. And, they’re not as good at making it really annoying or impossible to go from hear to there as we make it for them to get here.
    (/aside)

    Anyway though, I’ve even given my index finger print for 24 hour access to the gym in my NYC apartment building. So, yeah, I guess I’m getting abused to it by now.

  2. TheGlobalWarmingNemesis says:

    #9 – This is a 25 pg PDF, but well worth reading if you think you have nothing to hide: http://tinyurl.com/2fhkhj

    “sudo science” ?!? Is that related to the sudo-ephedrine they make “math” out of?

  3. J says:

    # 32 gquaglia
    &# 34 TheGlobalWarmingNemesis

    Yeah too bad for you that your beliefs haven’t caught up to reality. I don’t know where you have been but I thought this was common knowledge at this point.

    https://webfiles.uci.edu/scole/lapo_219.pdf

  4. TheGlobalWarmingNemesis says:

    #26 – Since you didn’t get my point – try “pseudoscience”.

    Phil Collins sang about su-su-sudio, but that’s not the same thing.

  5. J says:

    # 36 TheGlobalWarmingNemesis

    Oh yeah missed that. Good call though. I am the worlds worst speller.

  6. Alpha says:

    There is one finger I wouldn’t mind giving at all: the middle finger.

    But seriously for a minute. This fingerprinting system would it really help catch terrorists? I mean a terrorist who has never been identified, could still get into a country without problems or hijacl a airplane. In that case air marscalls add the most security. Then based on the US fingerprinting experiment of the 90 million people on database only 1,300 people were caught for having done something wrong, for mostly over staying their visa. Is giving you identity worth this security? Imo, no.


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