4 ms·

The reasoning is dumb, and the concept easily subject to abuse. If you're good at contorting your face for an extended period of time, including whilst you spe

The reasoning is dumb, and the concept easily subject to abuse. If you're good at contorting your face for an extended period of time, including whilst you speak, do so for your passport photograph. Think Mr Bean or EmotionEric / http://emotioneric.com http://emotioneric.com Why would you do this? Well I did this for my passport for several reasons, foremost being I detest the idea of facial recognition, it's an invasion of my privacy and my right to digital anonymity. For the same reason I don't have a facebook page, ask friends never to tag me in images and generally avoid photographs. Secondly because passports are archaic hangovers for an era long gone. When I travel (and I do so a fair amount) I only need my ID card to do so and mine uses a picture of me, so old and of such bad quality it's practically useless. It's a small amusement, and when I've actually needed to use the passport, I've yet to meet a passport officer or customs officer who will actually ask "Do you really look like that all the time?" or crack up laughing. But I'm keeping hope alive.

ido 13y ago
When I travel (and I do so a fair amount) I only need my ID card How are you let across international borders with only ID? I was under the impression that is only possible under very specific circumstances (e.g. between some EU states). Specifically, I can't imagine you're are let in or out of the US (other than maybe to Canada and Mexico) with just an id...
- Nanzikambe 13y ago
  You can travel freely to any EU, aspiring EU or Schengen country without need for a passport, you just need your national ID card. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Agreement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Agreement - https://www.bfm.admin.ch//bfm/en/home/themen/fza_schweiz-eu-efta.html https://www.bfm.admin.ch//bfm/en/home/themen/fza_schweiz-eu-... I've no intention of ever travelling to the US or any nation with similar travel requirements purely because that'd require a bio-metric passport. I dislike photos as it is ...
  - avar 13y ago
    Note that some countries (e.g. Iceland) are in Schengen but have no accepted national ID card that isn't the passport, so de-facto you need your passport to travel, even within Schengen. I don't know if Iceland's the rare exception here or if this goes for some other countries as well.
    - GunlogAlm 13y ago
      > I don't know if Iceland's the rare exception here or if this goes for some other countries as well. If you mean exception as an EU country with no national ID scheme: the UK, Denmark, Ireland, and Norway also don't have national ID cards. If you meant a Schengen country with no national ID: Denmark and Norway are other Schengen countries with no national ID cards (Norway isn't in the EU but is in the EFTA).
  - teh_klev 13y ago
    Sadly the dream of passport-less travel in the EU is slowly being eroded by airlines demanding passports for photo ID. Although I'm a UK citizen I don't own a UK password, I refuse to pay for one when I have no desire to travel outside the EU (there's also political reasons, but I won't go into that here). Anyway, there are some destinations I can't fly to within the UK without a passport because certain operators such as Ryan Air will only accept a passport as photo ID, which is pretty dumb. FlyBe used to have this policy but I see they've recently relented and will now even let you board with just your senior citizen bus pass :)
    - viraptor 13y ago
      > certain operators such as Ryan Air will only accept a passport as photo ID Is this some special case? I always fly with my national id rather than a passport and yes, I fly ryanair. Never had a problem with that.
      - maccard 13y ago
        Not really. They don't accept drivers licenses, so if you're flying from Ireland, your only option is a passport.
- danudey 13y ago
  You can get a Nexus card or an Enhanced Driver's License in Canada to facilitate rapid border crossings by land (though passports are still required by air or sea). The American passport that a recently-visiting friend brought was essentially an ID card the size of a driver's license, with RFID in it and the standard passport character coding on the bottom. I'm not sure if this is something supported in all other countries (since no passport stamping), but it seemed to do okay for our land crossings.
  - Nanzikambe 13y ago
    What data does the chip actually contain? Is it an identifier linked to a database or does it actually contain your personal information? One reason I dislike biometric passports implementing RFID is because typically most suffer from poor implementation, it's like a one stop shop for identify theft for any nefarious type within a few meters of you.
  - snogglethorpe 13y ago
    If you mean the U.S. "passport card", it's: "Valid when entering the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda at land border crossings or sea ports-of-entry. Not valid for international travel by air." http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/passports/information/card.html http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/passports/...
    - jimktrains2 13y ago
      I've never understood the point of the "passport card" option. I mean, I get that it's $100 difference, but never saw that as a reason to get one, and don't know why the state dept didn't just not come up with the idea and make everyone get a proper passport.
      - brewdad 13y ago
        Say you live in Portland, OR. Canada is less than 300 miles away, an easy drive. Oregon doesn't offer any type of "enhanced" license valid for border crossings. (I'm not sure their licenses even meet all of the standards for domestic air travel). If you only ever travel to Canada, the passport card might make sense.
- Dewie 13y ago
  > I was under the impression that is only possible under very specific circumstances (e.g. between some EU states). Obviously those 'very specific circumstances' can get you a lot of places if you live in certain European countries.
  - ido 13y ago
    Well I didn't know the OP is in the EU & when he said "I travel a lot" I assumed he meant international travel in general. So yeah there are a lot of countries you can see inside Europe but most of the world is still outside of the EU :)
ncarroll 13y ago
Oh. I haven't thought of emotioneric in the longest time. Thanks for the smile.
Houshalter 13y ago
>Well I did this for my passport for several reasons, foremost being I detest the idea of facial recognition, it's an invasion of my privacy and my right to digital anonymity. Better get rid of those humans born with the ability.
e12e 13y ago
How is an id card different from a passport? A passport is a national id booklet?

ido 13y ago

When I travel (and I do so a fair amount) I only need my ID card How are you let across international borders with only ID? I was under the impression that is only possible under very specific circumstances (e.g. between some EU states). Specifically, I can't imagine you're are let in or out of the US (other than maybe to Canada and Mexico) with just an id...

Nanzikambe 13y ago
You can travel freely to any EU, aspiring EU or Schengen country without need for a passport, you just need your national ID card. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Agreement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Agreement - https://www.bfm.admin.ch//bfm/en/home/themen/fza_schweiz-eu-efta.html https://www.bfm.admin.ch//bfm/en/home/themen/fza_schweiz-eu-... I've no intention of ever travelling to the US or any nation with similar travel requirements purely because that'd require a bio-metric passport. I dislike photos as it is ...
- avar 13y ago
  Note that some countries (e.g. Iceland) are in Schengen but have no accepted national ID card that isn't the passport, so de-facto you need your passport to travel, even within Schengen. I don't know if Iceland's the rare exception here or if this goes for some other countries as well.
  - GunlogAlm 13y ago
    > I don't know if Iceland's the rare exception here or if this goes for some other countries as well. If you mean exception as an EU country with no national ID scheme: the UK, Denmark, Ireland, and Norway also don't have national ID cards. If you meant a Schengen country with no national ID: Denmark and Norway are other Schengen countries with no national ID cards (Norway isn't in the EU but is in the EFTA).
- teh_klev 13y ago
  Sadly the dream of passport-less travel in the EU is slowly being eroded by airlines demanding passports for photo ID. Although I'm a UK citizen I don't own a UK password, I refuse to pay for one when I have no desire to travel outside the EU (there's also political reasons, but I won't go into that here). Anyway, there are some destinations I can't fly to within the UK without a passport because certain operators such as Ryan Air will only accept a passport as photo ID, which is pretty dumb. FlyBe used to have this policy but I see they've recently relented and will now even let you board with just your senior citizen bus pass :)
  - viraptor 13y ago
    > certain operators such as Ryan Air will only accept a passport as photo ID Is this some special case? I always fly with my national id rather than a passport and yes, I fly ryanair. Never had a problem with that.
    - maccard 13y ago
      Not really. They don't accept drivers licenses, so if you're flying from Ireland, your only option is a passport.
danudey 13y ago
You can get a Nexus card or an Enhanced Driver's License in Canada to facilitate rapid border crossings by land (though passports are still required by air or sea). The American passport that a recently-visiting friend brought was essentially an ID card the size of a driver's license, with RFID in it and the standard passport character coding on the bottom. I'm not sure if this is something supported in all other countries (since no passport stamping), but it seemed to do okay for our land crossings.
- Nanzikambe 13y ago
  What data does the chip actually contain? Is it an identifier linked to a database or does it actually contain your personal information? One reason I dislike biometric passports implementing RFID is because typically most suffer from poor implementation, it's like a one stop shop for identify theft for any nefarious type within a few meters of you.
- snogglethorpe 13y ago
  If you mean the U.S. "passport card", it's: "Valid when entering the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda at land border crossings or sea ports-of-entry. Not valid for international travel by air." http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/passports/information/card.html http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/passports/...
  - jimktrains2 13y ago
    I've never understood the point of the "passport card" option. I mean, I get that it's $100 difference, but never saw that as a reason to get one, and don't know why the state dept didn't just not come up with the idea and make everyone get a proper passport.
    - brewdad 13y ago
      Say you live in Portland, OR. Canada is less than 300 miles away, an easy drive. Oregon doesn't offer any type of "enhanced" license valid for border crossings. (I'm not sure their licenses even meet all of the standards for domestic air travel). If you only ever travel to Canada, the passport card might make sense.
Dewie 13y ago
> I was under the impression that is only possible under very specific circumstances (e.g. between some EU states). Obviously those 'very specific circumstances' can get you a lot of places if you live in certain European countries.
- ido 13y ago
  Well I didn't know the OP is in the EU & when he said "I travel a lot" I assumed he meant international travel in general. So yeah there are a lot of countries you can see inside Europe but most of the world is still outside of the EU :)

ncarroll 13y ago

Oh. I haven't thought of emotioneric in the longest time. Thanks for the smile.

Houshalter 13y ago

>Well I did this for my passport for several reasons, foremost being I detest the idea of facial recognition, it's an invasion of my privacy and my right to digital anonymity. Better get rid of those humans born with the ability.

e12e 13y ago

How is an id card different from a passport? A passport is a national id booklet?