Ravage Digital, 27 Oct 2011: 'Outcry over mobile fingerprint reader'

“Local parties in Rotterdam and Leiden have raised the alarm over a trial in which officers are taking to the streets with mobile fingerprint readers.

The device could be used to detect illegal aliens. GL in Rotterdam wants an urgent debate on the trial in the council. The Rotterdam SP has also asked the college for clarification. GL in Leiden wants the college to speak out against the trial. Party chairman Pieter Kos thinks the street check is a disguised form of racism that has no place in a tolerant society.

(...) According to the Privacy First foundation, the trial "collectively infringes on other people's privacy and physical integrity by fingerprinting anyone who might be 'illegal' in the eyes of uncle cop. The trial will most likely involve discriminatory 'enforcement', ethnic profiling and increasing stigmatisation of certain population groups."

The trial will initially focus primarily on 'illegal' aliens (undocumented migrants), but will "thereafter undoubtedly extend to other groups and eventually to every citizen, for example for the collection of outstanding fines or tax debts (in technical jargon: target shifting or function creep)," the foundation said.

Earlier this year, it was already revealed that the current state of biometric technology (with current error rates in passports and ID cards of at least 21 per cent) is still in its infancy and not suitable for mass use. "With all its consequences, including false suspicions and unjustified placements in immigration detention, mutual feelings of insecurity and risks of irritation, confrontation and aggression on the streets."

Read HERE the entire article at Ravage Digital.