At a time when we are debating whether Parliament is the ultimate decider in the UK's Brexit debate, it is interesting to note that the French government has issued a decree that all personal identity data held by various government departments should be held under a single computer record. This concerns passport or identity card details, including biometric data (eye colour or scan, fingerprints), date and place of birth etc.
The 60 million or so citizens concerned (age under 12 exempted) have no right of access and no possibility to appeal or refuse. Government sources say that it will aid administration and help prevent fraud, identity theft and counterfeit passports.
Opponents believe that it is open to hacking, is "big brother" and cite the last time a national register was made was under the Vichy government, which was scrapped after the war. It is also claimed that Assembly approval is required for such a measure.
The government says that a purely administrative measure, approved by the Data Protection body, does not require parliamentary approval.
Apparently it is not a legal requirement to have an identity card (or passport), but since one can do virtually nothing without one it seems an odd thing to do just to avoid a big brother database.
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