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Britain to Fingerprint Children 11 and Older

By Jeralyn, Section Civil Liberties
Posted on Sat Mar 03, 2007 at 11:26:49 PM EST
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Beginning in 2010, documents obtained from Whitehall show that Britian plans to fingerprint all kids from age 11 up and store the prints in a secret database for immigration purposes.

The plans are outlined in a series of “restricted” documents circulating among officials in the Identity and Passport Service. They form part of the programme for the introduction of new biometric passports and ID cards.

Opposition politicians and privacy campaigners warn that the plans show ministers are turning Britain into a “surveillance society”.

Think it can't won't happen here?

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    Britain to Fingerprint Children 11 and Older | 9 comments (9 topical)

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    for immigration purposes? (none / 0) (#1)
    by smiley on Sun Mar 04, 2007 at 10:56:46 AM EST
    um, yeah.  Because all of those 11-year-old schoolchildren in Tottenham are so desperate to immigrate to... Manchester?

    Come on, there is only one reason to blanket-fingerprint your citizens: to keep the prints in a police database, so that it's easier to get matches from evidence at crime scenes.  The immigration "story" is a pathetic cover.

    And the difference is?? (none / 0) (#2)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 07:38:54 AM EST
    I see no difference between this and a Social Security Number besides the fact that it can't be stolem.

    A big difference (none / 0) (#7)
    by Deconstructionist on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 11:03:33 AM EST
      is that your SSN can rarely be used to establish your presence at a location at some time in the past but your fingerprint can.

      Say I  went to a meeting of the Society for  Hating of  the Income Tax, and the government has decided it is a dangerous group. I decide
    I don't want it known that I decided to attend so I don't provide my name or SSN and wear a hat and shades but, dammit, I drank a cup of coffee and forgot to put on my gloves.

      The government may not be be able to ID from the surveillance video it surrepitiously recorded but it fishes the coffee cup out of the trash.

      That might sound farfetched, but our history shows it really isn't.

    Parent

    Break out the Krazy Glue..... (none / 0) (#3)
    by kdog on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 09:18:03 AM EST
    if you value your children's freedom, parents of Britain.

    I can't .... (none / 0) (#5)
    by desertswine on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 10:19:38 AM EST
    believe that they are going to go thru the trouble of actually fingerprinting everybody when it is so much more modern to implant everyone at birth with an ID chip. How 19th century.

    Heh. (none / 0) (#6)
    by Gabriel Malor on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 10:42:17 AM EST
    Opposition politicians and privacy campaigners warn that the plans show ministers are turning Britain into a "surveillance society".

    This is my favorite part. As if, during my time in London, I ever passed out of view of the omnipresent cameras during my commute to and from work and school.

    To be honest, though, I did feel safer knowing the cameras were there and that they were, for the most part, operating. When I moved back to Santa Monica I had the oddest feeling that I was more likely to be mugged than when I was living in Little Arabia, London.

    Yeah.... (none / 0) (#8)
    by kdog on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 11:44:32 AM EST
    I felt a lot less safe this morning when I dropped my morning duece and it wasn't videotaped.  A crazed terrorist or mugger could have climbed in the window and killed me!

    Parent
    Read it again, kdog. (none / 0) (#9)
    by Gabriel Malor on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 01:48:00 PM EST
    I was obviously refering to activities occuring on public streets. I didn't see any cameras in the restrooms in London (admittedly I didn't use many public restrooms).

    Incidentally, the thrust of my comment was that "privacy campaigners" are kidding themselves if they think they aren't already part of a "surveillance society."

    Parent

    I realize.... (none / 0) (#10)
    by kdog on Mon Mar 05, 2007 at 02:17:54 PM EST
    there is a difference between the bathroom and public spaces...

    I just equate going to the bathroom and walking to the corner store as common everyday occurences we should be able to do without being surveilled by our government.

    Good point though about it being too late to stop "surveillance society"...my side lost that battle long ago.  I wonder how many surveillance tapes I was captured on today...1, 3, 10?

    Parent

    Britain to Fingerprint Children 11 and Older | 9 comments (9 topical)

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