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Comment by vinay427 | Hacker News Reader

Sort of a tangent, but I wonder if there are any EU countries that have mandatory biometric ID cards. After a cursory (5-10 minute) search I found countries that either used to have ID cards but currently don't, used to have biometric ID cards but currently don't require biometrics, or have biometric ID cards that are optional. It does seem likely that in the future some country will, if it hasn't already, concede and mandate ID cards that contain biometrics.

Practically, anyway, GDPR seems like a much more effective measure.

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The vast majority of countries (EU or not) only issue biometric passports these days: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biometric_passport#Countries_u...

There are still some loopholes which one can use in order to escape this, but they’re getting fewer and fewer. For example here in Romania they don’t ask you for your biometric data if you apply for a short-term one-year passport, but the issue is that over time going that way is more expensive than directly applying for a 5-year or 10-year passport (which do ask for your biometric data). And loopholes like this one will close pretty soon, I fear.

Spain. I've owned a government issued ID with my fingerprints for forty years. That's no tragedy, believe me. I don't want government to have certain data and I don't want private companies to have other data. If you think about identity as a right, you might start to see things under a different light.

For many private actions companies demand ID number. That reduces identity theft to a bad movie plot.

How does this prevent identity theft, do the private companies verify the fingerprints?

The national ID prevents identity theft. If someone gets something using a fake ID, it's a problem of the provider, so they have every incentive to check the card and request a signature for every transaction. If someone gets past the first filter, you simply go there with your card and make it their problem, not yours.

Hungary scanned my fingerprints when I applied for a residence permit.

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