<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Steve M:
Ordinarily, the fact that data is easier to collect makes it more likely that it will be collected and stored "just in case," but I don't think that's the case with the passport data. The only place I've had it scanned was at Immigration in various countries and occasionally at an airline counter. Although I have always had an OCR passport, many of the Immigration counters and airlines in years past didn't have the readers. In each case, they just manually typed in the data from the passport, so the lack of OCR didn't reduce the amount of information collected.</font>
I think some countries are very concerned about the information collecting and sharing aspect. Don't the EU countries have stringent rules not only about who can collect what but on how that information can be transmitted or stored?
I liken some of these concerns to the worries that Californians had a long time ago when the state started issuing the "credit card style" driver licenses and ID cards with a mag stipe on the back. People there (and other states as the trend towards mag stipes and bard codes spread) were flipping out because of concerns as to what was encoded on the back of the ID.
I think people gernerally understand the need for data collection but would rather it not be 'so easy' to do. Especially in this day of spam and marketing lists. ie It's one thing for the grocery store clerk to record your ID number and DOB on your check but it's another story for her to swipe your ID and thus collect *everything* in 5 seconds...