Kristof.Willen.be

There has been a lot of talking lately about the new Belgian electronic identity card. People in Belgium are required now to carry 2 cards with them : an identity card, and a SIS card, which is used in medical environments, like hospitals and pharmacies. These 2 cards will be replaced by one identity card, which carries a chip, with your info on it (name address and INSZ number). Many people have concerns about the privacy of this ecard : what if it gets stolen, forged ? What if the goverment starts enforcing the use of this card in public places ? How easily can one be tracked by using the e-card ? Still too many questions...

Yesterday, it was ass-licking day for politicians and reporters as the mighty Bill Gates visited Belgium, and announced he would incorporate the use of the e-card in Microsoft software like MSN Messenger. Reporters behaved like 16 year old girls having a chance to ask some questions to their most beloved pop-idol. Questions like 'How much do you earn?' or 'Do you like Belgium ?', followed by nervous giggles. Come on, people, ask the guy some decent, critical questions ! Like how will Microsoft deal with this private data, without collecting it ?