Blogaria

After some initial protest - mainly from the leftist parliament members, but hey, who listens to those guys - the measure was motivated by stating that the European Union requires this. Basta. However, the truth is somewhat different: The EU does require a biometric parameter in passports (as counterfeit measure), but does not require central storage of such ID's. And there's the catch. Although the Dutch government is complying with EU regulations, they're going way further than that. And they're walking a dangerous path.

Only 65 years ago, the Dutch people said "Never Again" to the antrocities of the second world war. "Never Again" to publicly marking people with identifications, such as of course the Jewish star that had to be sewn on coats and be visible at all times. History knows where that led to - readily available identification is oh-so-handy, and not only for benefical purposes..

The Dutch civil rights organisation "Het Niewe Rijk" (The New Empire) got into action and distributed approx. 60.000 flyers, inviting citizens to come to their town halls to have their social security number tatooed on their wrist. (For example, read "The Press", depers.nl.) The proponents of the governamental fingerprinting measure of course yelled "shame on you", and called this a disgusting protest.

But actually, Het Nieuwe Rijk is totally right. When all fingerprints are centrally stored, then all that officials have to do, is to carry around a portable fingerprint scanner with a wireless connection. Within seconds they'll not only know whether you're Jew, Catholic, Muslim or whatever, but they'll also know where and how you are insured, on what no-fly list you are present, where you live, what car you drive and how environment-friendly it is, and so on. In a sense, this fingerprint storage goes way beyond the Jewish star of WW2: we now carry countless identification stars with us. And we can't take them off - fingerprints are forever. And arguments that this government just wants "the best" for us and can be trusted, are absolutely invalid: even if we do trust this government, why are we forced to state that we'll also trust the next one, and the next, and so on?

We're tagged. We're waiting to be bagged.

"Never again" has lasted 65 years in the Netherlands.