Big Brother

Namibia
The other day we stood queueing in a Namibian Post Office to get stamps for post cards we'd just bought.It was like Post Offices anywhere, a window for motor vehicle registrations, one for customer enquiries and another for stamps and miscellaneous needs. We felt at home. There were three others in front of us and as we watched, the person at the head of the queue, a local woman in national costume, affixed her fingerprint (thumb actually) to an official looking document. Oh, we thought, poor woman, we thought, must be illiterate, we thought. Then we noticed the clerk take the documents to the far side of the office and place the thumb print under an infrared light. Electronic verification of her fingerprint? Impossible, this is Africa!
The next two people in front of us bought stamps and withdrew money. They used the desktop "chip and pin" (Eftpost) terminal with which we are all familiar. You know, the retailer inserts your cashcard, enters the amount of the transaction and you, the customer, enter your PIN nunber. Right? No! This terminal had a small infrared scanner inset in the display panel and instead of a PIN number, customers placed their thumbs over the panel which read and verified the print and authorised the transaction. So is everyone in Namibia illiterate or is this some trial of a new technology to be rolled out elsewhere? Perhaps a more economical alternative to Tony Blair's contraversial (and expensive) compulsory national ID card, or simply the forerunner to the "Mark of The Beast?"Watch this space!!