Data on citizens
The Times carried a report (June 29) about the introduction of biometric passports for Maltese citizens within the next 18 months. This is in accordance with an EU directive aimed at ensuring greater security. In Germany, for example, these new...
The Times carried a report (June 29) about the introduction of biometric passports for Maltese citizens within the next 18 months. This is in accordance with an EU directive aimed at ensuring greater security. In Germany, for example, these new passports shall be given out to the Germans from November 1.
I would be interested to know how much the Maltese biometric passport will cost, as this information was not given by Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg. In Germany it will cost €59, when a normal one used to cost €26. A digital photo and the fingerprints shall be saved on a chip on that new passport and iris scan data might follow later.
The EU says that this will ensure greater security and for Technology Minister Austin Gatt it is another step to an efficient eGovernment, especially because an eldentity (electronic identity) is required to apply for the new passport online. This eldentity shall become the key to the central database of a rich-featured eGovernment system.
The introduction of biometric passports in the EU was the result of US insistence on biometric passports for entering the country from the end of the year. The time limit of October 26, 2005 was extended by US Secretary of Justice Alberto Gonzales earlier this month.
Keeping data in a centralised data base, which is accessible to all local authorities, such as the police, the Social Services Department or the local councils' offices, will surely make the eGovernment more efficient and faster.
But there are also risks which should not be forgotten! The more opportunities it gives and the more data are being stored in a central data base, the bigger the danger of abuse by unauthorised personnel.
These are, of course, with a criminal intent. Besides the danger of abuse, there is the risk that people who work with the data base make mistakes. These mistakes could lead to a wrongly addressed parking ticket or even to a complete loss of an identity. This has happened elsewhere, so all possible precautions should be taken by the authorities responsible for eGovernment.
We must not forget that with these developments the transparency of every free citizen increases further!