Very much so.

That was a dumb question the guy is a Human rights Activist in Japan :D

They should do this world wide it might actually cut down on illegal immigration by a lot if you know where everyone is that is. I know a few states that would love this new technology implemented...

Calling him a human rights activist does injustice to real human rights activists.

I hate this guy too. He's overly aggressive in his tactics and it ends up looking like the worst brand of "Gaijin Whine". Every time he speaks, I almost expect him to end his sentences with "in America!" He's not a human rights activist in my book. If he were, he'd be working more to make people aware Japan's sometimes awful treatment of refugees or the 'working poor', or japanese nationals who fall through gaps in the system and I don't hear him doing anything of the sort.
In fact he doesn't talk about ANY human rights issue of real substance, he just niggles over how bureaucratic documents are handed out and clouds the issue. To top it all, I have this feeling that when he talks about 'foreigners' in Japan, I think he's only talking about those from America, or Europe or Australia. I can't see him going to talk to say, Bangladeshi immigrants working below the breadline and championing for their problems with living in Japan and racism. He'd rather have a moan about how he's discriminated against, you know, being asked if he can use chopsticks all the time is SUCH a hardship, like being asked to carry some ID. O, but doesn't your heart just ~bleed~ for him.

I'm seconding nyororin on the paperwork issue. It's a nightmare with all the paper forms and stuff in triplicate and copies and urgh... it's so slow and unwieldy. It's also the same reason why UK passports now come with a chip in them. Previously during check in, they'd have to enter each and every passenger's info into the system by hand. Now they just swipe it and the queues are much shorter as a result.

And it's nigh on impossible that any government would take this REID business to human micro-chipping standards. Why they hell would the bother when nature provides us with several very good stamps already; retinas, DNA and fingertips, all for no extra charge.

Agreed.

But 21 states in the U.S. have followed Maine's action and passed laws banning this action. Several others have bills pending to outlaw it. All 50 have extensions on the enforcement date. This could be an interesting show down in the Supreme Court. The law was passed with an effective date of May 11, 2008 and has been changed twice. Its being fought on several different constitutional principles by both traditionally liberal and conservative groups. North Carolina is already in compliance, but almost every state with significant immigration issues (except CA) is showing strong opposition.

Why its not like we don't have it inside our passports and passport cards, why not have it in out licenses and state id cards too lol

To be clear, the fight is not about RFID but a national, United States ID that would be required to get on an airplane. State IDs could be converted to also be national IDs, and everyone would be in one database.

I would feel so much safer knowing everyone's fingerprint, retinal, and personal information was in one GIGANTIC database....but everyone would start crying if that were to happen.

The minute people feel like they cant hide something they start crying "omg our rights of privacy are being taken away.."

To be fair, it is an issue of possesion. Surely your body is your own and something so personal and unique such as your DNA / fingerprint / retina should be yours to have the right to divulge or not. I don't have to explain to the the government where the birthmark is on my body and describe it in explicit detail in order to identify myself - so why should I have to give my DNA? It is really no different.

Just because it's not harming you doesn't mean it's acceptable. The government hijacking your personal information is a form of control. While I think it is perfectly acceptable if someone has commited a crime, to have a system to keep tabs on all your citizens seems a bit too orwellian for my liking.

A fingerprint or retina is not DNA. I am not aware of a government program to ID people by DNA, but if that exists, let me know.

How is "divulging" your fingerprint giving up your rights? If you aren't doing anything illegal, then what is there to be upset about? Your retina or fingerprint has no inherent value, so if sharing it ensures there are no, for example, terrorists on the plane I am about to fly it, then they have all the retina scans and fingerprints they want.