5 ms·

As a German, you could not be more wrong with your idea about ID cards. ID cards are not used to track your movement. There is no need to show an ID to the poli

As a German, you could not be more wrong with your idea about ID cards. ID cards are not used to track your movement. There is no need to show an ID to the police unless they have suspicion that you committed a crime and confront you. There are no passport controls along roads. There is a huge difference between the scales at which passport controls and CCTV can be executed, too, because passport controls require work by a police officer, whereas CCTV can be automated with face recognition. Our police is understaffed, too, you rarely see them. Whenever you use your ID card it is to buy alcohol or enter a concert, and police do not check the ID, but an employee of the venue. The employees just check the date of birth if you look like a young person, and sometimes if the picture is matching your face.

dozzie 9y ago
> As a German, you could not be more wrong [...] Why do you think he's German?
- icc97 9y ago
  They don't, I'm assuming they're speaking as a German. I'm a Brit living in Belgium. I see the difference and I wish I could have the privacy of no ID cards back.
  - dozzie 9y ago
    > They don't They do, or at least that's what they said.
    - andrewaylett 9y ago
      No, they claimed to be German, and _in that capacity_ responded to their parent.
      - dozzie 9y ago
        Not really. bayerrr said to icc97: > As a German, you could not be more wrong [...] bayerrr claimed that icc97 was German (this is how this grammatical construction works).
        icc97 9y ago
        There is an inferred "Speaking as a German", so the author is a letting me know they're German. But also as you pointed out it makes no sense for them to assume I'm German, but it does make sense if they are German. So I'd just assume the version that makes sense.
        dozzie 9y ago
        > There is an inferred "Speaking as a German", so the author is a letting me know they're German. Yes, there is the "speaking" part inferred, but the grammar still does not work like that. As a supposedly educated English native speaker, you should know better. If I said: "As an idiot, you're wrong", I could not possibly claim that I called me an idiot. Why suddenly the subject would change in the very same sentence structure?
        yesenadam 9y ago
        [Opinions expressed may not be those of the author] As a lover of respectful exchanges on here, there's something slightly objectionable about your tone in this thread. As a rather tiresome pedant, you should stop hassling and lecturing people over nothing. Yes, the original construction "As a German" was kinda awkward, but everyone seems to know what they meant, so why go on about it. Not sure what your problem is. As an intruder to this thread, it's not really my business anyway. As a participant, it's more your domain. As a reader, half of what you say is pretty confusing to me. As an HN-ite, I'm sure you can do better in the future.
icc97 9y ago
I'm talking about when the police stop you. I live in Belgium and I've seen the oppressive stop and searches the police do on buses. They come on and haul people off. You are required to have an ID on you at all times. If you don't have an ID on you you've committed an offence. It makes it very easy for police to find identities of people they question. In the UK you have the privacy that you haven't committed an offence by not having an ID so the police can't detain you. So you can just give a fake address and the police can't do anything.
- brokenmachine 9y ago
  > So you can just give a fake address and the police can't do anything. That sounds like a dangerous strategy. Surely lying to police is an offence. You'd be better off asking what crime you are suspected of committing first, and if there is none, declining to answer. Of course, police probably wouldn't like that strategy much either.

dozzie 9y ago

> As a German, you could not be more wrong [...] Why do you think he's German?

icc97 9y ago
They don't, I'm assuming they're speaking as a German. I'm a Brit living in Belgium. I see the difference and I wish I could have the privacy of no ID cards back.
- dozzie 9y ago
  > They don't They do, or at least that's what they said.
  - andrewaylett 9y ago
    No, they claimed to be German, and _in that capacity_ responded to their parent.
    - dozzie 9y ago
      Not really. bayerrr said to icc97: > As a German, you could not be more wrong [...] bayerrr claimed that icc97 was German (this is how this grammatical construction works).
      - icc97 9y ago
        There is an inferred "Speaking as a German", so the author is a letting me know they're German. But also as you pointed out it makes no sense for them to assume I'm German, but it does make sense if they are German. So I'd just assume the version that makes sense.
        dozzie 9y ago
        > There is an inferred "Speaking as a German", so the author is a letting me know they're German. Yes, there is the "speaking" part inferred, but the grammar still does not work like that. As a supposedly educated English native speaker, you should know better. If I said: "As an idiot, you're wrong", I could not possibly claim that I called me an idiot. Why suddenly the subject would change in the very same sentence structure?
        yesenadam 9y ago
        [Opinions expressed may not be those of the author] As a lover of respectful exchanges on here, there's something slightly objectionable about your tone in this thread. As a rather tiresome pedant, you should stop hassling and lecturing people over nothing. Yes, the original construction "As a German" was kinda awkward, but everyone seems to know what they meant, so why go on about it. Not sure what your problem is. As an intruder to this thread, it's not really my business anyway. As a participant, it's more your domain. As a reader, half of what you say is pretty confusing to me. As an HN-ite, I'm sure you can do better in the future.

icc97 9y ago

I'm talking about when the police stop you. I live in Belgium and I've seen the oppressive stop and searches the police do on buses. They come on and haul people off. You are required to have an ID on you at all times. If you don't have an ID on you you've committed an offence. It makes it very easy for police to find identities of people they question. In the UK you have the privacy that you haven't committed an offence by not having an ID so the police can't detain you. So you can just give a fake address and the police can't do anything.

brokenmachine 9y ago
> So you can just give a fake address and the police can't do anything. That sounds like a dangerous strategy. Surely lying to police is an offence. You'd be better off asking what crime you are suspected of committing first, and if there is none, declining to answer. Of course, police probably wouldn't like that strategy much either.