Most people have the Rijksregisternummer on the back of their ID card already. You could ask to not to have it there, but I don't know many who did that.
As far as I'm aware, the number is on the chip itself, not on the card, so I guess the card readers have some restrictions to prevent who can read your rijksregisternummer (for example, only government offices could do so)...
You are right - there is no 'Belgian' race, no 'real' native Belgians. There are indeed few European countries who do.
However. It doesn't take a lot to create some kind of 'national' feeling (as in: "I am Belgian"). I would call everybody who has a few generations of history in Belgium, speaks the language and has some feeling about the football team and the Dutch or French (depending in which part you live) a 'native' Belgian for that matter...;).
For those who are interested: http://eid.belgium.be/en/navigation/1 2000/index.ht ml
It's the official website of the government about the eID card.
Flemish (Dutch-speaking part of Belgium) public television also has an interview with Bill Gates on this topic. You can find it on-line at http://www.vrtnieuws.net . Click "Internetsoftware voor Belgische identiteitskaart" and then "Ivan De Vadder interviewt Bill Gates". The interview is in English, although with Dutch subtitles. It can only improve your language skills:)
Now I live in Belgium. Why a post like this gets an 'Interesting' score goes beyond my mind.
First of all, Belgium indeed does have a rather big foreign population. Saying that the foreign population exceeds the native one is just plain absurd. Last time I checked the stats it's not near there at all. You might want to double-check you facts and question your 'reputable analyst'.
The eID is not related to this at all, though. The Belgium government is going to a long process of modernizing the administration. That includes, for example, filling out your tax form on-line. The eID card merely is a step in this process to make the goverment more accessible (from your home!) to all Belgian citizens.
Let me start off with saying that we already have an electronic social security card, which has been in use for quite a while and is broadly accepted.
There's quite a lot of sensitive data on the social security card, but that's why the card readers have built in security: you don't want your local pharmacy to access the list of last visits to your doctor, for example.
The purpose of the eID is to facilitate e-government. You can, for example, use the eID card to fill out your tax form on-line. The eID card is also secured by the traditional PIN code, so it's as safe as, let's say, your bank card. Needless to say that if you loose it you can cancel it - you just go to the closest police station.
I'd like to add as well that if you don't want to use your eID, then don't. It's still the traditional ID as well and if you don't want to use it with your computer, then don't!
Thus: there is no violation of privacy: you need a ID card anyway, it just comes with a chip these days. If you don't want to use this chip outside of your contact with the government, then don't. You still have full control over your privacy, so there's nothing to worry about.
Your comment based on some personal views and do not at all reflect the real reasoning behind the Belgian eID.
One more sidenote: the Parlement had a short session with Bill Gates and the MP's did ask him quite some questions about open source software. Just to show you that our government is interested in Open Source Software as well.
Have a nice day.
... and Microsoft might have already sneaked in a pay subscription service.
Now, I wonder... where does that come from? As far as I can tell from http://www.giantcompany.com/commonQuestions.htm, it already uses a subscription service.
It really sounds like the common anti-Microsoft slogans that seem to be based on nothing. You would expect more from/.:)
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Most people have the Rijksregisternummer on the back of their ID card already. You could ask to not to have it there, but I don't know many who did that.
As far as I'm aware, the number is on the chip itself, not on the card, so I guess the card readers have some restrictions to prevent who can read your rijksregisternummer (for example, only government offices could do so)...
You are right - there is no 'Belgian' race, no 'real' native Belgians. There are indeed few European countries who do.
;).
However. It doesn't take a lot to create some kind of 'national' feeling (as in: "I am Belgian"). I would call everybody who has a few generations of history in Belgium, speaks the language and has some feeling about the football team and the Dutch or French (depending in which part you live) a 'native' Belgian for that matter...
For those who are interested:1 2000/index.ht ml
:)
http://eid.belgium.be/en/navigation/
It's the official website of the government about the eID card.
Flemish (Dutch-speaking part of Belgium) public television also has an interview with Bill Gates on this topic. You can find it on-line at http://www.vrtnieuws.net . Click "Internetsoftware voor Belgische identiteitskaart" and then "Ivan De Vadder interviewt Bill Gates". The interview is in English, although with Dutch subtitles. It can only improve your language skills
Luckly we don't have the Patriot Act in Belgium :).
Even if Belgian ISP's would be required to authenticate users using an eID, then we would just use a foreign ISP, no?
Now I live in Belgium. Why a post like this gets an 'Interesting' score goes beyond my mind. First of all, Belgium indeed does have a rather big foreign population. Saying that the foreign population exceeds the native one is just plain absurd. Last time I checked the stats it's not near there at all. You might want to double-check you facts and question your 'reputable analyst'. The eID is not related to this at all, though. The Belgium government is going to a long process of modernizing the administration. That includes, for example, filling out your tax form on-line. The eID card merely is a step in this process to make the goverment more accessible (from your home!) to all Belgian citizens. Let me start off with saying that we already have an electronic social security card, which has been in use for quite a while and is broadly accepted. There's quite a lot of sensitive data on the social security card, but that's why the card readers have built in security: you don't want your local pharmacy to access the list of last visits to your doctor, for example. The purpose of the eID is to facilitate e-government. You can, for example, use the eID card to fill out your tax form on-line. The eID card is also secured by the traditional PIN code, so it's as safe as, let's say, your bank card. Needless to say that if you loose it you can cancel it - you just go to the closest police station. I'd like to add as well that if you don't want to use your eID, then don't. It's still the traditional ID as well and if you don't want to use it with your computer, then don't! Thus: there is no violation of privacy: you need a ID card anyway, it just comes with a chip these days. If you don't want to use this chip outside of your contact with the government, then don't. You still have full control over your privacy, so there's nothing to worry about. Your comment based on some personal views and do not at all reflect the real reasoning behind the Belgian eID. One more sidenote: the Parlement had a short session with Bill Gates and the MP's did ask him quite some questions about open source software. Just to show you that our government is interested in Open Source Software as well. Have a nice day.
Now, I wonder... where does that come from? As far as I can tell from http://www.giantcompany.com/commonQuestions.htm, it already uses a subscription service. It really sounds like the common anti-Microsoft slogans that seem to be based on nothing. You would expect more from /. :)