May be a stupid question, but it occurred to me that when renewing official IDs, fingerprints are registered, and of course, there’s a clean shot of your face. Kinda makes me uncomfortable, since fascism seems to be on the rise pretty much everywhere. How do you guys deal with this? Necessary evil?

  • 𝘋𝘪𝘳𝘬@lemmy.ml
    21·
    23 hours ago

    I live in the EU and thus I can travel pretty far away without having to ever show my ID card. Maybe it’s just personal experience but whenever I had to show it, no-one cared about it wasn’t valid anymore.

    Another trick is acting stupid: “Oh, thank you! I didn’t notice! When would a normal person check that, eh? 🙂 … Right on next Monday I’ll going to renew it!” and then hasta la vista, we won’t meet ever again anyways.

    The next time I have to renew it, is in 2031. I guess I won’t renew it till 2040.

    • merde alors@sh.itjust.works
      51·
      22 hours ago

      depending on how you look, what your hair & skin colour is, you may be checked “randomly” while you’re walking home or when you’re crossing borders on a train. If your ID isn’t valid, they won’t just “not care about it”

      that polite policeman passing you by with a “good day” would wake me up on the train to check harass me to see if i’m hiding who knows what in my testicles 🤬

      Maybe it’s just personal experience

      your experience doesn’t reflect Europe, it is a commentary about what you see in the mirror

      • 𝘋𝘪𝘳𝘬@lemmy.ml
        72·
        20 hours ago

        depending on how you look

        … and even more where you cross the border. If I want to go (like in “just walk there”) from Poland to Germany, I could use this bridge for example:

        It’s really just an ordinary bridge across a river, no border patrol, no ID check, nothing. Just walk from one country into another.

        Or if I want to cross the border from Germany to France, I could just use that publicly accessible hiking path:

        (Seen from French side, the barrier where the people sit is the whole border crossing point.) And this bridge with a view brings you from France to Spain.

        Except border check points you’ll find luxury housing on French side and commercial buildings (stores and some warehouses) on Spain side.

        At no point in that imaginary journey (now that I think about it, this would make a great road trip with hiking parts) you need your ID card when you travel to another country.

        Long story short: It’s really easy to cross borders in the EU.

        • merde alors@sh.itjust.works
          1·
          10 hours ago

          ☞ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_perception

          Selective perception is the tendency to not notice and more quickly forget stimuli that cause emotional discomfort and contradict prior beliefs. For example, a teacher may have a favorite student because they are biased by in-group favoritism. The teacher ignores the student’s poor attainment. Conversely, they might not notice the progress of their least favorite student. It can also occur when consuming mass media, allowing people to see facts and opinions they like while ignoring those that do not fit with particular opinions, values, beliefs, or frame of reference. Psychologists believe this process occurs automatically.

          Selective perception has roots in cognitive psychology, where it is studied as a fundamental part of how individuals filter and process information based on biases, expectations, and past experiences. It is closely related to concepts like confirmation bias—favoring information that aligns with one’s beliefs—and cognitive dissonance, the discomfort of holding conflicting thoughts, both of which shape perception. Its applications extend beyond psychology, playing key roles in marketing (shaping consumer focus), politics (influencing voter perception), and mental health (understanding biases in disorders), highlighting its impact on both individual behaviors and societal trends.