Liberty groups attack plan for EU health ID card

[R. A. Hettinga]

<http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/10/21/wid21.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/10/21/ixworld.html/news/2003/10/21/wid21.xml>

The Telegraph



Liberty groups attack plan for EU health ID card
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Brussels
(Filed: 21/10/2003)

The European Union took its first step yesterday towards the creation of an
EU-wide health identity card able to store a range of biometric and
personal data on a microchip by 2008. Approved by Union ministers in
Luxembourg, the plastic disk will slide into the credit-card pouch of a
wallet or purse.

The European Health Insurance Card is intended to end the bureaucratic
misery of E111 forms currently used by travellers who fall ill in other EU
countries. Eventually it will replace a plethora of other complex forms
needed for longer stays.

But civil liberties groups said it was the start of a scheme for a
harmonised data chip that would quickly evolve into an EU "identity card"
containing intrusive information off all kinds that could be read by a
computer.

During the first phase from June 1 next year, each country will be able to
choose whether to include photographs, fingerprints and biometric data,
such as eye measurements, on the "national" side of the card. Britain is
opting for a minimalist version.

The European Commission said yesterday that the final phase in 2008 would
add a "smart chip" containing a range of data, including health files and
records of treatment received. "The ultimate objective is to have an
electronic chip on the card, as the technology improves," said a spokesman.

Tony Bunyan, the head of Statewatch, said it was part of a disturbing
Union-wide erosion of privacy since September 11 2001. "We all know where
they're heading with this," he said. "They want a single card with all our
data on one chip. It'll be a passport and driver's licence rolled into one
with everything from our national insurance numbers, bank accounts, to
health records."


-- 
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R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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