Fingerprint card plan touches nerve with human rights groups
Date:  2005/06/20 14:08:40
SOURCE:  Taiwan News
URL: http://www.etaiwannews.com/Taiwan/Politics/2005/06/20/1119239523.htm

Taiwan rights groups have scored an early success in their campaign to
stop national fingerprinting which they say could turn the island into
a police state not 20 years after the lifting of martial law.

Proponents of "biometric" cards, which record attributes unique to an
individual including fingerprints, say they reduce identity fraud and
illegal immigration. A fingerprint databank also helps solve crimes
and identify missing persons.

But with the memory of four decades of martial law fresh in their
minds -- it was lifted almost two decades ago in 1987 -- rights
activists deride mandatory fingerprinting as an affront.

The Interior Ministry had initially planned to start the new 
policy from July 1, which would require all citizens over 14 
to be fingerprinted when they apply for ID cards.

But the government delayed the move due to the uproar caused by the
rights groups, and asked judges to rule on whether it violated the
constitution. An answer is expected within six months.

"It sets a terrifying precedent. The government can in the future 
cite social security as an excuse to build a DNA database, scan iris
patterns, or even plant global positioning chips into people," said
Fort Liao (???), a human rights lawyer.

"It would be a serious reversal of the progress we've made in Taiwan,"
said Liao. 

(snip / snip)

Full article at Taiwan E-Government Portal...
http://english.www.gov.tw/index.jsp?id=11&recid=107318&viewdate=0

Cheers, Steve..

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