When Shakespeare coined the phrase 'brave new world' he was being sarcastic. His character, Miranda, referred to what she thought were wonderful things in this manner because she just didn't know any better. And when Aldous Huxley used the words for the title of his famous novel it was with the same sense of irony and sarcasm.
Attached is an article from the Gulf Daily News with the title 'A Brave New World'. In it the author lauds a world of biometric national IDs, biometric databases, checkpoints and 'your papers please'. I can only assume that the author of this article, like Shakespeare's Miranda, just doesn't know any better. And that is how it will be when the beast of Revelation arises for his time on Earth. He will come with signs and miracles, his mortal wound will be healed and he will claim to be God. And people will worship him. And they will think it is a brave new world.
A Brave New World...
Recently, Saudi Arabia released details
of a plan to build a large biometric database containing
fingerprints, and iris and facial images of almost 30 million people.
The goal of building a biometric database in Saudi Arabia is to
prevent the malicious intent of committing crimes, to stop terrorist
activity, and to enhance regional security.
The question is - how exactly can the
use of biometrics to establish a national ID card help in prevention
of terrorism and cross border crimes and enhance regional security?
Biometrics is characterised as an
individual identification method using his or her physiological or
behavioural traits. The fact that no two humans have the same
physiological characteristics (even identical twins) has propelled
biometric technology to the forefront as an identification tool.
Now that the technology is more refined
and developed to meet the new challenges of identification, it also
offers a choice of modalities for deployment such as fingerprint,
iris and facial recognition, finger vein, palm vein, and more.
Due to its proven ability as a unique
identification tool, biometric technology is being implemented in
different sectors that require accurate identification for
convenience and security - such as healthcare, immigration, border
control, banking, and finance.
Due to the advantages of biometrics,
many countries around the world are now considering deploying
biometric enabled national ID cards for their citizens.
This biometric-based identification
card can also be used as a smart card for various purposes, including
the distribution of government services and social security benefits.
It can also act as an electronic passport, voter identity document,
border security credential, and identification for healthcare and
welfare service distribution.
By implementing the biometric national
ID card technology, Saudi Arabia could prove to be a role model for
other countries in the Middle East.
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