The Ministry of Justice and Security is considering installing a fingerprint scanner at soccer stadiums. In this way, the minister wants to enforce stadium bans on soccer hooligans and prevent disturbances. The police unions like the plan. De Telegraaf reports.
According to the plan, entrance gates in soccer stadiums are linked to a database of the Public Prosecutor's Office. Persons with stadium bans are included in it. On the basis of a fingerprint, the person in question can be recognized. If he scans his fingerprint at a soccer stadium, the entrance gate remains closed if there is a match. In this way, the Ministry of Justice and Security wants to enforce a stadium ban.
Also, the ministry is considering linking a fingerprint to an admission ticket. Only spectators with a valid ticket can then watch the game in the stadium. What the implementation will look like is still unknown.
The police unions support the cabinet's plan. "It's high time the KNVB invested in security, and that's certainly possible with personalized tickets. Because the way things are going now, it really can no longer be done," Jan Struijs, president of the Dutch Police Federation (NPB), told De Telegraaf.
Wim Groeneweg, president of police union ACP, also thinks biometric identification at soccer stadiums is a good idea. He acknowledges that privacy is "an important thing. "But if this is a viable path we should take it as far as I am concerned. The interests of soccer clubs, security and supporters have been considered in this well thought-out plan. This could be close to the solution."
In a reaction, the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) said it embraced the plan in principle, but questioned its implementation. "We are great supporters of a digital reporting obligation and also this application of fingerprints can be a solution to curb supporter violence. But substantively I cannot comment yet because it is too premature. But it should be clear that all initiatives to keep violence out of stadiums will be seriously studied by us."
Identification by fingerprint to keep out soccer hooligans with stadium bans sounds like a sympathetic plan that can count on a lot of support. However, there are some snags.
The Personal Data Authority writes on its website that strict requirements apply if a company or agency wants to use biometrics. "A strict test is then needed as to whether the importance of using biometrics is in proportion to the invasion of privacy. And whether using biometrics is the best way to secure access or whether there are other ways." In short, using a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA), an agency must say something about the proportionality and subsidiarity of this measure.
What makes the analysis difficult is that access control is different for each situation. At a nuclear power plant, for example, it is common for it to be secured with biometrics, such as a fingerprint scan. "There, the importance of security is very high and only certain people are allowed access," the regulator said. For a recreational area, it's a different matter. There, according to the privacy watchdog, the need for security is not so great that only people with biometric identification are allowed access to the park.
