Reisepässe könnten bald obsolet werden, da Gesichtserkennung und Smartphones die Oberhand gewinnen | Bedenken hinsichtlich Datenschutz und Sicherheit werden bereits geäußert

From the article: Travel documents are on the brink of a technological revolution as facial recognition systems become mainstream. But some countries are finding it tricky to strike a balance between convenience and privacy, as well as security and efficiency.

In the coming years, the traditional paper passport, a document that has been a cornerstone of international travel for over a century, may soon become obsolete. In its place, facial recognition technology and smartphones are poised to become the new standard for identity verification at airports worldwide.

This shift towards biometric identification is not a distant possibility but a rapidly approaching reality. Airports in numerous countries, including Finland, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Italy, the United States, and India, are already conducting trials of passport-free travel systems. Singapore, for example, allows its residents to enter and exit the country without physical passports, and is extending this convenience to departing foreign visitors.

The drive to streamline the travel experience is driving this trend. Athina Ioannou, a lecturer in business analytics at the University of Surrey, notes that the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of contactless travel technologies. “It’s probably going to become the mainstream way of traveling, as I understand, in the near future,” Ioannou told Wired.

I’m fine with a rectal scan if it speeds me through airport security faster.

We have just the thing for all you worried about your privacy. The new smart chip 35560 will accompany you everywhere. Just plant it inside your thumb and all your biometric data are available, anytime, anywhere!

Don’t worry, guys. Any time the news says we should be worrying about a technology, they’re just fear mongering. The tech doesn’t even work correctly and people have sued for falsely identifying people during investigations, especially if they’re not white. Just like how AI advertising was mostly bullshit so is this. I guarantee it. Can the tech get there? Maybe. But consider that back in 2010 people were saying self driving cars would be safer than just driving your fucking car. Now we’ve come to the reality that self driving cars crash more often than human driven cars and we just wasted a whole shitload of government subsidy money to some jackass selling snake oil (Elon). Those were false promises then, this is false promises now. As far as I know the tech still does a shit job at recognizing non-white people. I also sometimes wear a mask in places I know have highly invasive cameras that could be logging my face.

not cool

where are my sunglases and a mask from the covid period

I live in a small town, that is my perspective, so I call this concept “the small town test”. And by “small town” I’m talking about just recently reached a population off about 3,600. Neighboring towns have far less. This is small town to me.

I apologize for not having an analog for big cities and others. I grew up in and around large metropolitan areas, but I’ve been a country boy for the last 40.

The small town test simply means that if something about an individual would be known to the immediate surrounding community, then we shouldn’t expect privacy in a connected world. How one looks and sounds and obvious injuries or illnesses are all out in the public in a small town. What one purchases or when one weds are common knowledge in a small town.

I acknowledge we are talking of a vastly different scale outside that small town pretend bubble. I don’t know how to deal with that, but I do believe it is our view of privacy expectations that need to be re-examined.

The UK is already ending physical residence permits and issuing E-Visas that are linked to your passport