There was a time when people used to ask me where I come from. I then like to play the guessing game with them. So I usually answer, ‘What’s your best guess?’ I have heard answers like, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Cuba, Brazil, Papua New Guinea, Holland? Portugal, France, Egypt, Eritrea, South Africa etc Oh yeah and sometimes India as well.
But not so anymore. With my dark skin, curly hair that is slowly turning white and my shining dark eyes, wherever I go I will be read as a German. Because this is the data that is stored in my new passport that I just renewed today that comes along with a Radio-Frequency Identification Device chip, (whether you want it or not) that can be read by anyone who has access to a RIFD transponder. There is a lack of information about exactly what the passports’ chip contains. It stores a minimum of 32 kilobytes of biometric data that contains information on facial recognition, fingerprint and iris recognition. Because of the pressure from the United States, which says that only holders of electronic passports will be eligible for visa-free travel to the US in future, many other countries are giving in. By the end of June 2009 all the EU and non EU European countries are obligated to implement this in their passports. Despite privacy concerns, the government forces this on the people. Is it really only about security gains or is there more to it?
This device is already in our daily use, in libraries, sports, consumption products, road tolls, animals etc for the purpose of identification and tracking using radio waves. By the way our dog Chilly recently had a chip implanted on his shoulder just because we live at the 3 border country. It is required for the officials to identify where the dog is registered in case he is crossing country borders!
This reminds me of the parable that Jesus told the large crowds that gathered around him in Mt 13:24-30. Big brother is not only watching but slowly creeping into our lives.
