---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 13:11:55 -0500 From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com> To: politech@politechbot.com Subject: FC: U.N. meeting hears proposal for global human database, ID #s http://www.smh.com.au/breaking/2001/12/14/FFX058CU6VC.html Refugees meeting hears proposal to register every human in GENEVA, Dec 13 AAP Published: Friday December 14, 7:18 AM Every person in the world would be fingerprinted and registered under a universal identification scheme to fight illegal immigration and people smuggling outlined at a United Nations meeting today. The plan was put forward by Pascal Smet, the head of Belgium's independent asylum review board, at a roundtable meeting with ministers including Australian Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock this afternoon. Mr Smet said the European Union was already considering a Europe-wide system, using either fingerprints or eye scanning technology, to identify citizens. But he said the plan could be extended worldwide. "There are no technical problems. It is only a question of will and investment," he said. "If you look to our societies, we are already registered from birth until death. Our governments know who we are and what we are. But one of the basic problems is the numbers of people in the world who are not registered, who do not have a set identity, and when these people move with real or fake passports, you cannot identify them. [...] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------