Two years ago, the UK dismantled their national ID scheme and shredded their National Identity Registry in response to great public outcry over the privacy-invasive program. Unfortunately privacy protections have been less rosy elsewhere. In Argentina, the national ID fight was lost some time ago. A law enacted during the military dictatorship forced all individuals to obtain a government-mandated ID. Now, they are in the process of enhancing its mandatory National Registry of Persons (RENAPER) with biometric data such as fingerprints and digitized faces. The government plans to repurpose this database in order to facilitate “easyaccess” to law enforcement by merging this data into a new, security-focused integrated system. This raises the specter of mass surveillance, as Argentinean law enforcement will have access to mass repositories of citizen information and be able to leverage existing facial recognition and fingerprint matching technologies in order to identify any citizen anywhere.
– From the EFF’s must read article: Biometrics in Argentina: Mass Surveillance as a State Policy
The above passage was written in early 2012, but I had never taken the time to look into Argentina’s burgeoning and extremely creepy biometric database until now. It takes on increased importance to Americans now that Apple has rolled out its iPhone 5NsA.
Don’t worry though, Apple is a private company and they’d never work with the NSA or anything…
The video below is the promotional video of the Biometric ID Database in Argentina, and is an epic example of state propaganda.
In Liberty,
Mike
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Unreal but I’m not surprised. Our version of said program is cloaked as Real ID which the state seeks to strengthen under immigration reform aka central planning in regards to labor reform
Mike, this satirical 3-min clip is from the movie “The President’s Analyst” from 1967: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUa3np4CKC4
Somehow seemed appropriate.
To renew my Austrian EU passport a digitized photo and fingerprints were taken in addition to showing all the regular papers such as a certificate of birth and proof of “Staatsbuergerschaft” (citizenship) A couple of decades ago, I was able to renew my passport via mail at the Austrian Consulate. Now it has to be done in person, so that the biometric data can be taken.
Quoting from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:
“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” I would say this applies to many in America.
I would too and I live there! Good quote btw.
I first encountered SBIOS least year when entering the country. I was so was so incensed by the experience, I wrote this article about Queen Christina and her corporatist psychopathic cronies:
http://endthelie.com/2012/12/27/argentina-a-case-study-in-how-an-elite-political-dynasty-is-used-to-further-the-new-world-agenda/