Report - Guardian

The LSE Identity Project Report: June 2005 63of civil liberties. When terrorists attack, that's when civil liberties arecurtailed.” 136Although the exact details of the card remain to be known, there are indications that theGovernment of the Philippines is watching the UK process carefully.TaiwanFor a number of years Taiwan has attempted to implement a biometric identity card.New national identity cards were to be issued as of July 1 st 2005. In accordance with a1997 Household Registration Law, these new cards were to include a fingerprint of allcitizens over the age of 14. Premier Frank Hsieh argued that the programme wouldprotect the human rights of all:“My commitment to human rights is no less than anyone else. (…)The principle of administration based on law restricts government (…and) in fact guarantees the human rights of the great majority of thepeople.” 137The status of the fingerprinting programme came into question in April 2005 when theCabinet actually decided to recommend its abolition to the President and the Parliament.Pressure against the Cabinet rose when the Interior Ministry purchased 9000 fingerprintscanners at an estimated cost of NT$500 million. 138In May 2005, Vice President Annette Lu launched a public campaign against thefingerprinting of all Taiwanese residents. She warned that fingerprinting wasunnecessary because they are not decisive factors in solving criminal cases. She alsoargued that creating a database of fingerprints will likely create risks of computer crime.The vice president also argued that the requirement was unconstitutional:“The government's collection and storage of fingerprint recordsconstitutes a collection of individual data and involves the questionsof guarantees of the individual right of privacy and informationautonomy.” 139The Vice President was also concerned that the adoption of a fingerprinting programmewould hurt Taiwan’s international image as a democratic society. She predicted thatTaiwan would “probably become an international laughing stock.”An alliance of over 100 human rights groups formed to oppose the programme. The adhoc “Movement to Refuse Fingerprinting” includes as members the Taipei BarAssociation and the Judicial Reform Foundation. Supporters were planning to apply foridentity cards but will refuse to be fingerprinted. They would then lodge formalcomplaints with their local governments if they are then not issued with a card.136 ‘DILG chief pushes national ID system against terrorism’, Joes Fancis Guinto, INQ7.net, February 18, 2005.137 ‘Premier promises to abide by justices’ ruling on fingerprinting’, Dennis Engbarth, Taiwan News, May 26, 2005.138 ‘Vice president takes fight over prints to print’, Dennis Engbarth, Taiwan News, May 24, 2005.139 Ibid.