Cronaca: Fingerprinting academics; or, when in Rome . . .

January 26, 2004

Fingerprinting academics; or, when in Rome . . .

The Cranky Professor comments on a NY Times story about an Italian academic, who:

. . . was scheduled to teach at New York University this semester [but] has decided not to do so, as a protest against the new American policy of fingerprinting arriving visitors and employees from other countries.

He has been loudly protesting this supposed outrage in a number of places, including notably Le Monde. But as our good professor correctly and crankily points out:

In order to stay in Italy (or anywhere in the EU) longer than the 90 day tourist visa one must have not only a visa but leave fingerprints.

Posted by David on January 26, 2004 11:28 AM

Comments

If you want to stay longer than 90 days, you're a hell of a money spending tourist; or you just want to live here. So it seems pretty normal that we'd like to identify you.

If I go to the USA for a weekend, the amercian government keeps info about me (biometric data and the like) that my own government might not have. Does this seem plausible to you?

Posted by: Claudia on January 26, 2004 3:46 PM

If you want to stay longer than 90 days, you're a hell of a money spending tourist; or you just want to live here. So it seems pretty normal that we'd like to identify you.

Fair enough; so why should the Italian professor protest so, when the US does to him what Italy has done to visiting American scholars for years? (Except the US doesn't require registration on arrival with the local police)

Posted by: David on January 26, 2004 4:01 PM

And if I want to have my parents stay in my apartment which I have rented in Italy for more than 2 nights (is that it?) I must register their visit with the police as well.

Countries have laws.

You visit the countries, you might want to follow the laws.

I find the repressive relic of totalitarianism (though as far as I know the registration of residents laws go back to Napoleonic France, more or less) worse than fingerprinting entrants.

Posted by: Michael Tinkler on January 26, 2004 6:07 PM