New German RFID-Cards - Can manage online trade, money transfers, bureaucracy...

[Macs.]

German cabinet approves new citizenship test and ID cards

Published: 23 Jul 08 12:01 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/13239/


The German cabinet gave the green light on the planned citizenship test for immigrants and new national identification cards on Wednesday.

The new identification cards, set for use in 2010, will ease commerce for internet sales and make bank transfers and bureaucratic affairs run more smoothly. A digital fingerprint saved to the card will be optional, though a digital photo will be required for all German residents older than 16.

The cabinet also approved the hotly-debated citizenship test, a new component to citizenship applications which goes into effect this September.

The exam will cost applicants €25 ($38) a go, and they will be given all the questions to study beforehand. Candidates must correctly answer at least 17 of 33 questions on German culture and history to pass. Those exempted include people who have gone through the German school system, those younger than 16 and older people with failing learning capacities, according to the Interior Ministry. Successful applicants also have to have adequate German, no criminal record and have been living in Germany for at least eight years. Candidates can retake the test as many times as they like.

Critics of the exam have said the test is too difficult, with irrelevant questions that even Germans may not be able to answer, much less the country's 7 million permanent residents without citizenship.

Leaders from the country's Turkish community have been particularly critical of the test. At 2.3 million, Turks make up the largest group of immigrants in Germany, and have long pushed for the right to keep both Turkish and German passports. Around 340,000 people over 18 will soon face the tough decision of choosing between German or Turkish citizenship.

In 2000, Germany reformed its citizenship laws which had previously only recognized the principle of nationality by blood. The reform now allows foreigners who have lived in Germany for eight years to apply for naturalization. But the original plan to allow their children born in Germany to automatically become German failed in the face of fierce opposition by conservative parties. As a compromise, it was decided that naturalized children would have to decide at the age of 18 whether they wanted to keep their German passport or their foreign one.

Some point out that being forced to choose between nationalities could mean a conflict of identity and loyalties.

http://www.thelocal.de/13239/20080723/


The option for the "no fingerprint"-version is pretty much a farce. For example later at a airport there will be two terminals here - One where you get through within a few minutes since you have the fingerprint and just get your finger scanned - on the other one there will be a goverment worker checking anyone separately which obviously takes much longer. The other thing is that your Card will not be totally secure from theft/misuse without your fingerprint, the agency clearly advises you to add the two fingerprints to protect yourself from identity theft...

The other thing is, once someone """steals""" the code of your fingerprint, it's stolen for good since you obviously can't get a new one. And it's already clear that in the future you will pay more and more simply with your fingerprint. It even get's better: Imagine someone duplicating your fingerprint and leaving a item with it attached at a crime scene. The police let it run through its computer and will be at your door.

This will be nice for the goverment and criminals. Everything on a RFID-Card. The card will be madatory, with optional additions such as the "secure online-trade"-thing for everyone Age 16+, first Cards will be handed out in 2 years.

[toki]

I'm in a video store where you rent with your fingerprint. Sometimes i wonder what was i thinking. The company where i work also has a fingerprint code at the door.

I wonder why we need it. For example I don't like the idea of online shopping with your national ID. You only have one identity as you said. If somebody hacks it, he'll hack you.

They showed the new ID yesterday... Yeah, it looked "kinda neat" in the credit card format, but that's about it.

And the crime scene thing: It could happen that fingerprints are no valid evidence anymore, since fingerprints are too easy to take away from another person, since everybody carries it around in the wallet.

[Breakfast in Vegas]

I was pretty laissez-faire about the whole credit card fraud/identity theft thing until a recent Amazon.de purchase ended with my card being used to buy a bunch of jewelry in India. Outsourcing, fvck yea!

I am going to use somebody else's fingerprint code for my new ID card. Volunteers?

[toki]

I was pretty laissez-faire about the whole credit card fraud/identity theft thing until a recent Amazon.de purchase ended with my card being used to buy a bunch of jewelry in India. Outsourcing, fvck yea!

I am going to use somebody else's fingerprint code for my new ID card. Volunteers?

My brother had a bank transfer in Romania. -1.000€. Oops.

[Breakfast in Vegas]

My brother had a bank transfer in Romania. -1.000€. Oops.

Those Romanians are tricky.

Can't decide if I respect or despise that...

[cmc]

Those Romanians are tricky.

Can't decide if I respect or despise that...

Fear us...




Just joking!

[perdurabo]

i was talking with one of Polish Europarliment guys and he said EU is working on ID cards for all EUnations with all those features mentioned in above article, they even proposed placing electronic chip in body of citizen but it was rejected, i hope they won't come up with those cards, i'm good using separately ID card and credit cards... :/

[Calanen]

Eventually they will just bar code or electronic tag people.

[toki]

Eventually they will just bar code or electronic tag people.

The new ID is not so far from it, since you have to carry it anyway. Even with the actual one, everybody has a code on it, that isn't so different from a bar code. Police just scan it and know who you are, where you live at the moment etc.



It's worlds apart from a American driving license for example.
On the backside there is more specific data.

[Macs.]

The funny thing is also that the pretex on WHY we need these new RFID-ID's changed.

In the past years it was because of Terrorism and general security concerns, but in the past years there have been way under 100 cases of people trying to reforge such a ID-Card completly. In a country of 81.000.000 !

Now they say, it is to make online trade and bank transfers more secure,help to secure you from Fraud and fight bureaucracy...

[Mackie]

Generally: Can do more with those cards, means that the card becomes a more focused issue for criminals.
We have enough bureaucracy which could be reduced whithout this crap.

The risk is that they COULD scan your id without your acceptance.

[toki]

Do you get the same google ad? lol


who's Friedrich Julius Stahl?