Farm chickens are constantly tested for Avian Influenza (“Bird Flu”) and if one bird tests positive the entire flock is euthanized and the farm must sit empty for weeks, <a href="https://www.nationalchickencouncil.org/bird-flu-its-not-in-your-food/questions-and-answers-on-avian-influenza/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according</a> to the National Chicken Council (NCC).<blockquote>All U.S. flocks are tested year-round for avian influenza, and if a single bird in a flock were to test positive for avian flu, then none of those birds would be allowed to enter the food supply. . . . When a case of avian flu is detected, the farm must remain empty for three weeks after the euthanasia, according to the following 5-step response plan.&nbsp;</blockquote><blockquote><ol><li>Quarantine&nbsp; First, the farmer ensures that the affected flock stays put in one area, along with any equipment that has been near the birds.&nbsp;</li><li>Eradicate&nbsp; The affected flock is then quickly and humanely euthanized.&nbsp;</li><li>Monitor Region&nbsp; At the same time, both wild and domestic birds in a broad surrounding “control” area are tested and monitored for avian influenza.&nbsp;</li><li>Disinfect&nbsp;The farm where the flock was housed is then thoroughly disinfected to ensure any traces of the virus is killed.&nbsp;</li><li>Test&nbsp;Last, the entire poultry farm is carefully tested for 21 days to confirm it is free of bird flu before allowing a new flock of birds to arrive. [Emphases added].</li></ol></blockquote>"Culling"Euphemistically referring to the slaughter of the chickens as “culling,” which Merriam-Webster <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cull" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">defines</a> as “select[ing] from a group [as in] culled the best passages from the poet's work,” NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/bird-flu-spreads-people-existing-vaccines-may-inadequate-rcna72973" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> this week that, as a result of a “bird flu that began spreading globally in 2020 [a]lmost 59 million commercial birds have already been culled in the United States.”CostsGlobally, The Guardian <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/09/avian-flu-has-led-to-the-killing-of-140m-farmed-birds-since-last-october" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported </a>in December 2022, “Avian flu has led to the killing of 140m farmed birds since last October.” Since governments generally pay farmers for “culling” their healthy birds, the slaughter of more than 140 million of them has resulted in more than a billion dollars in costs borne by taxpayers.<blockquote>Costs and compensation in the US for this year’s outbreak total almost $570m (£465m), the USDA said.&nbsp;An EU source, who preferred not to be named, said: “According to the information provided, member states have spent about €440m (£380m) to combat avian influenza outbreaks.”</blockquote>“Skyrocketing” inflationWhile the farmers are reimbursed for their financial losses, the significant decrease in the supply of chickens and eggs is not alleviated by the government's reimbursement scheme, leading to inflation in the price of both and creating another cost borne by the same taxpayers forced to fund the slaughter. Gino&nbsp;Lorenzoni, an assistant professor of poultry science and avian health at Pennsylvania State University, and Kevin Snekvik, the executive director of the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at Washington State University, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/avian-bird-flu-egg-prices-rcna66273" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">weighed in</a> on the extent of the inflation.<blockquote>More than 40 million egg-laying hens have been culled in the U.S. alone, causing the price of eggs nationwide to skyrocket, Lorenzoni said. Months earlier, the “bird flu” outbreak drove the cost of turkey meat to record highs.&nbsp;The virus can take commercial poultry farms out of commission for extended periods. “They have to remove dead birds, disinfect their facility and bring new birds in — that’s a several-month process to do that,” said Kevin Snekvik. . . . “That’s when production of eggs is hammered.”</blockquote>Necessary?The NCC's <a href="https://www.nationalchickencouncil.org/bird-flu-its-not-in-your-food/questions-and-answers-on-avian-influenza/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Questions and Answers</a> on Avian Influenza (“Bird Flu”) clarifies the lack of danger avian flu poses to people.<blockquote>Can human beings get “bird flu” from live birds such as chickens?The risk of humans contracting avian flu is very low, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).&nbsp; Scientists say bird flu is not easily transmitted from birds to humans.&nbsp;There are obvious risk factors for the transmission of the virus from live birds to people. Unless human beings are directly exposed to blood or excrement of infected poultry, avian influenza is a disease of birds, not humans. . . .&nbsp;If a person gets “bird flu,” can he or she give it easily to other human beings?According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “sustained transmission” of avian influenza from human to human has NOT occurred. Despite the fact that millions of birds got sick and died in the middle of human populations in Southeast Asia in 2004-2006, “sustained transmission” did not occur.&nbsp;</blockquote>CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bird-flu-kill-millions-of-poultry/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">revealed</a> the simple way that people can avoid even the rare cases of avian virus in humans — cook the chickens and eggs.<blockquote>Officials emphasize that this virus that's spread primarily through the droppings of infected wild birds doesn't threaten food safety or represent a significant public health threat. Sick birds aren't allowed into the food supply and properly cooking poultry and eggs kills any viruses that might be present. And health officials say no human cases of bird flu have been found in the United States during this current outbreak.</blockquote>No airThe CBS News report focused on the difficulties inherent in requirements to quickly “cull” huge numbers of chickens, with individual farms sometimes required to kill more than 5 million birds.<blockquote>The spread of a bird flu . . . raises the grisly question of how farms manage to quickly kill and dispose of millions of chickens and turkeys. It's a chore that farms across the country are increasingly facing as the number of poultry killed in the past two months has climbed to more than 24 million, with outbreaks reported nearly every day.&nbsp;Some farms have had to kill more than 5 million chickens at a single site with a goal of destroying the birds within 24 hours to limit the spread of the disease and prevent animals from suffering.&nbsp;</blockquote>Veterinarians and the USDA are thus called in as killing consultants; and as observers.&nbsp;<blockquote>"The faster we can get on site and depopulate the birds that remain on site, the better," Minnesota State Veterinarian Beth Thompson said.&nbsp;<h2>Lethal foam</h2>Farms faced with the need to kill so many birds turn to recommendations by the American Veterinary Medical Association. Even as it has developed methods to kill the poultry quickly, the association acknowledges its techniques "may not guarantee that the deaths the animals face are painless and distress free." Veterinarians and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials also typically oversee the process.One of the preferred methods is to spray water-based firefighting foam over birds as they roam around the ground inside a barn. That foam kills the animals by cutting off their air supply.</blockquote><div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">The egg and meat industry ended up culling millions of chickens during the current <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/birdflu?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#birdflu</a> pandemic. One of the proclaimed “efficient” way of doing that is by suffocating them in foam. via @RobertCardel18<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/eggtruth?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#eggtruth</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/eggs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#eggs</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/chicken?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#chicken</a> <a href="https://t.co/Dp0gtXEuko">pic.twitter.com/Dp0gtXEuko</a>— Egg-Truth (@Egg_Truth) <a href="https://twitter.com/Egg_Truth/status/1633319253167468544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 8, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </div><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/aflds/image/upload/v1684956910/i_Stock_1255150736_f3dda83e2a.jpg"></figure>Gassing is substituted when foam cannot do the job.<blockquote>When foam won't work because birds are in cages above the ground or it's too cold, the USDA recommends sealing up barns and piping carbon dioxide inside, first rendering the birds unconscious and ultimately killing them.</blockquote>Too hotInducing heat stroke is the third method.<blockquote>If one those methods won't work because equipment or workers aren't available, or when the size of a flock is too large, the association said a last resort is a technique called ventilation shutdown. In that scenario, farmers stop airflow into barns, which raises temperatures to levels at which the animals die.&nbsp;The USDA and the veterinary association recommend that farmers add additional heat or carbon dioxide to barns to speed up the process and limit suffering by the animals.</blockquote>Doubling downThe USDA stands by each of the three “culling” methods.<blockquote>Mike Stepien, a spokesman for the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said the techniques are the best options when it's necessary to quickly kill so many birds."State animal health officials and producers carefully weigh the different options to determine the best option for humane depopulation and do not make such decisions lightly," Stepien said.</blockquote>ResistanceAnimal rights groups are pushing back against the notion that these methods of mass slaughter are acceptable, noting that the harmful chemicals in firefighting foam which “essentially drowns birds” while they suffer convulsions and cardiac arrest. When it comes to the carbon dioxide alternative, merely breathing it is painful for the birds.&nbsp;<blockquote>Animal welfare groups argue that all these methods for quickly killing birds are inhumane, though they are particularly opposed to ventilation shutdown, which they note can take hours and is akin to leaving a dog in a hot car.Animal rights groups delivered a petition last year signed by 3,577 people involved in caring for animals, including nearly 1,600 veterinarians, that urged the veterinary association to stop recommending ventilation shutdown as an option."We have to do better. None of these are acceptable in any way," said Sara Shields, director of farm animal welfare science at Humane Society International.Opponents of the standard techniques said firefighting foam uses harmful chemicals and it essentially drowns birds, causing chickens and turkeys to suffer convulsions and cardiac arrest as they die. They say carbon dioxide is painful to inhale and detectible by the birds, prompting them to try to flee the gas.</blockquote>Alternative?One activist would like to see the birds gassed in a less painful way, using nitrogen.<blockquote>Karen Davis, of the nonprofit group United Poultry Concerns, urged the veterinary association to stop recommending all of its three main options."They're all ways that I would not choose to die, and I would not choose anybody else to die regardless of what species they belong to," Davis said.Shields said there are more humane alternatives, such as using nitrogen gas but those options tend to be more expensive and could have logistical challenges.</blockquote>Davis failed to mention another option to prevent pain and suffering among the birds - cancelling regulations requiring millions of birds in a flock to be “culled” when one bird tests positive for the flu.See our previous article on the danger to the food supply:<ul><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/us-to-follow-dutch-in-closing-family-farms">US to follow Dutch in closing family farms?</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/fact-checkers-use-straw-man-argument-to-debunk-reports-that-governments-ordered-egg-destruction">Fact checkers use straw man argument to 'debunk' reports that governments ordered egg destruction</a></li></ul>

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Technocracy

US News

Destroying animals and food for public health after one flu case despite lack of danger

'Suffocate chickens with firehose foam' - Feds

A British vigilante group known as the “Blade Runners” is receiving widespread support from British taxpayers as it continues to destroy climate surveillance cameras across London.<h2>The ULEZ mandate</h2>By order of London Mayor Sadiq Khan, the city is peppered with ultra-low emission zones (ULEZs), areas accessible only to low-emission vehicles. Cars that do not meet the city’s environmental standards are charged £12.50 ($16) for entering the ULEZ. Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras positioned around the zones read license plates and check them against the vehicles’ make and model in real time. If a vehicle does not meet the environmental threshold, a fine is levied against the car owner.&nbsp;The ULEZ climate mandate has drawn heavy&nbsp;<a href="https://frontline.news/post/london-hundreds-protest-against-climate-mandates">protests</a> from residents, including&nbsp;<a href="https://frontline.news/post/british-veteran-launches-hunger-strike-as-unrest-grows-over-climate-mandates">hunger strikes</a> and refusals to pay fines. Taxpayers have also taken to disabling the ANPR surveillance cameras which Transport for London (TfL), the city’s transportation department, said will be used both for climate and law enforcement.<h2>Taxpayers cheer the ‘Blade Runners’</h2>Since the climate restrictions were expanded last year, the Blade Runners have taken to disabling and destroying hundreds of cameras. Between April and September 2023, Metropolitan Police recorded 200 reports of cameras being stolen and 595 reports of cameras being vandalized.TfL began placing black boxes around ULEZ camera wirings to protect them from being cut, but taxpayers found other ways to disable the cameras — like removing them completely.<div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"> MUST SEE: Blade Runners topple THREE ULEZ cameras in a coordinated strike… The people are fighting back! <a href="https://t.co/Yvr2Xr7Lun">pic.twitter.com/Yvr2Xr7Lun</a>— David Morgan #StayFree (@david_r_morgan) <a href="https://twitter.com/david_r_morgan/status/1802726912050995623?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>In response, the city&nbsp;<a href="https://frontline.news/post/london-taxpayers-attack-surveillance-vans-in-continued-revolt">deployed</a> mobile surveillance vans mounted with ANPR cameras across London in the hopes of evading attacks, but Blade Runners soon began targeting those as well. Some surveillance vans have been spotted covered in graffiti with their tires slashed, while others have been completely covered in tarp.Last month, 21 cameras were destroyed in the hours after Sadiq Khan was re-elected mayor of London, the&nbsp;Daily Mail&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13538797/Moment-Blade-Runner-uses-power-tool-cut-ULEZ-camera-traffic-light-latest-attack-Sadiq-Khans-hated-scheme.html">reported</a>. Last weekend, Blade Runners used power tools to topple a ULEZ camera and traffic lights to the delight of some fellow taxpayers. In a video that was posted to social media, passing cars can be heard honking in support.The video received over 37,000 likes. Comments on the post were largely supportive, with users writing that, “When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty,” and “Fair play to them, it's a complete scam that does nothing.”Blade Runner Matt Hardy told the&nbsp;Daily Mail&nbsp;that the Blade Runners are “people pissed off about the tyranny reigning over us and getting out and doing things about it – real votes, real boys here.”<h2>‘These cameras are not about the climate. They are about control’</h2>British actor and influencer Laurence Fox said this week he was just given back his electronic devices by police after being arrested earlier this year for cheering on the Blade Runners:<blockquote>These cameras are not about the climate. They are about control. They are the primary infrastructure for all sorts of things that ideologues like the midget dictator [Sadiq Khan] would like to impose upon us.I can now finally say the word ‘Bladerunners’ again. One of the ridiculous restrictions on free speech imposed by the police.It’s a dreadful shame to see so many of these cameras dying suddenly. I’m not at all thrilled about it. Just because I am smiling like a Cheshire Cat, it doesn’t mean that I am over the moon that these scameras continue to topple in high winds.&nbsp;Vive la résistance!</blockquote><div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">POLICE UPDATE Following 6 coppers bursting into my house earlier this year to arrest me for saying how pleased I was that the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ULEZ?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ULEZ</a> scam was meeting such robust resistance, this morning the <a href="https://twitter.com/metpoliceuk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@metpoliceuk</a> were ordered by the magistrate to hand back all my devices, including my…— Laurence Fox (@LozzaFox) <a href="https://twitter.com/LozzaFox/status/1803030521095622912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div> &nbsp;

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Pushback_Resistance

Climate Change

‘Pissed off about the tyranny reigning over us’

British taxpayers cheer vigilante group destroying climate cams

Fisker is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the electric vehicle (EV) company announced Tuesday.<h2>‘Like other companies in the electric vehicle industry’</h2>“Fisker has made incredible progress since our founding, bringing the Ocean SUV to market twice as fast as expected in the auto industry and making good on our promises to deliver the most sustainable vehicle in the world,” a spokesperson <a href="https://assets.ctfassets.net/cghen8gr8e1n/6W19OiEBJDVIFVEmo4feHA/df902c5cb2b067251a300efb0b35f611/Fisker-Filing-FINAL.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a>.The California-based company added it is not the only EV maker that has been struggling to stay in business.“We are proud of our achievements, and we have put thousands of Fisker Ocean SUVs in customers’ hands in both North American [sic] and Europe. But like other companies in the electric vehicle industry, we have faced various market and macroeconomic headwinds that have impacted our ability to operate efficiently. After evaluating all options for our business, we determined that proceeding with a sale of our assets under Chapter 11 is the most viable path forward for the company.”Fisker’s collapse is the latest indication that the EV industry is folding due to sinking demand. Other EV industry players are also cutting their losses as they jump ship.<h2>Hertz</h2>In March, Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr&nbsp;<a href="https://www.motorfinanceonline.com/news/hertz-ceo-resigns-amid-ev-investment-setback/#:~:text=Scherr's%20departure%20coincides%20with%20Hertz's,electric%20vehicle%20(EV)%20rentals">resigned</a> after his bet on EVs cost the car rental giant its biggest quarterly loss since 2020. Hertz had been praised by the Biden administration for its ambition to convert 25% of its fleet to EVs by the end of this year. In January, however, the company announced it would instead be selling its 20,000 EVs — including Teslas — at heavily discounted prices and replacing them with gas-powered cars.<h2>Mercedes-Benz</h2>Mercedes-Benz also recently had to give up its ambition to only sell electric cars by 2030. Instead, EVs are expected to make up only 50% of the German carmaker’s sales over the next decade.<h2>Apple</h2>In February, Apple abandoned its multi-billion dollar effort to create an electric car. Despite being a decade in the works and employing 2,000 people, Project Titan was axed due to falling consumer demand.<h2>Aston Martin</h2>A lack of consumer demand is also partly to blame for Aston Martin&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13138123/Aston-Martin-puts-brakes-new-electric-supercar-2026-bosses-say-drivers-want-engines-throaty-roar.html">placing</a> its battery-operated “supercar” on hold until 2026.“Demand, certainly at an Aston Martin price point, is not what we thought it was going to be two years ago,” said Aston Martin Executive Chairman Lawrence Stroll.&nbsp;<h2>Ford</h2>In December, Ford slashed production of its flagship EV at its assembly plant in Dearborn, Michigan by half. The automaker cut the monthly production quote for the all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck from 3,200 units to 1,600 units per month.<h2>Biden administration continues to force EV production</h2>Nevertheless, the Biden administration in March issued new climate mandates aimed at forcing more EV production. The new rules from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) contain tight emissions standards that will&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/epa-electric-vehicles-emissions-limits-climate-biden-e6d581324af51294048df24269b5d20a">require</a> 56% of new vehicle sales to be fully electric by 2032, with an additional 13% required to be hybrids.

car market decline.jpg

Biden administration continues to force EV production

Electric car company files bankruptcy as EV market folds

For the last two years, British authorities have been testing AI-powered emotion recognition cameras on travelers in train stations, according to recently disclosed documents.<h2>What can the cameras see?</h2>In each of eight train stations around the UK, five to seven cameras or sensors scan the passing crowds. Using AI software from Amazon, the cameras use object recognition algorithms to spot criminal activity, trespassing, weapons, wet floors, overcrowding, and overstuffed trash cans.&nbsp;They can also alert authorities when passengers engage in “unusual behavior,” such as shouting, running, smoking, or skateboarding.&nbsp;A combination of existing cameras and newly installed smart cameras are being used for the surveillance project. All are equipped with Amazon’s Rekognition surveillance system.<h2>Emotional recognition</h2>Through a combination of facial and behavioral analyses, the Rekognition software allows officials to also <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-ai-cameras-emotions-uk-train-passengers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">analyze visitors’ emotions</a>. Internal documents note that the cameras can detect whether a passenger is “happy, sad [or] angry.” They can also recognize passenger satisfaction, which “could be utilized to maximum advertising and retail revenue.”<h2>Anti-social behavior</h2>Authorities can also detect passengers who exhibit “anti-social behaviour,” which&nbsp;<a href="https://www.met.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/asb/asb/antisocial-behaviour/what-is-antisocial-behaviour/">according</a> to London’s Metropolitan Police Service means “behaviour by a person which causes, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to persons not of the same household as the person.”<h2>Social distancing, face masks, and demographics</h2>Other&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24757655-usecases_dpas_review_managed_stations?responsive=1&amp;title=1">use cases</a> for the surveillance cameras include detecting whether passengers are keeping to social distancing rules and wearing face masks. The cameras can also scan for demographics by identifying people’s age profiles and “socio-economic classification,” which the documents note can create “revenue opportunities for better targeted advertising and product placement.”<h2>‘Quite a concerning step’</h2>The documents were obtained by Big Brother Watch, a civil rights and government watchdog group, in response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. Network Rail, a body within the Department of Transportation which manages most of the country’s train network, has been overseeing the surveillance project.&nbsp;“The rollout and normalization of AI surveillance in these public spaces, without much consultation and conversation, is quite a concerning step,” Jake Hurfurt, head of research and investigations at Big Brother Watch,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-ai-cameras-emotions-uk-train-passengers/">told</a> Wired.As of now, the surveillance systems do not use facial recognition technology, which analyzes faces and matches them against facial images stored in certain databases.

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surveillance

World News

Cameras can also detect 'anti-social behavior,' social distancing

UK tests emotion recognition cameras in train stations

The European Union (EU) is considering subjecting foreign travelers to lie detector tests administered by AI technology.&nbsp;<h2>How would it work?</h2>Authorities at airports and ferry ports would use cameras equipped with machine-learning software to detect whether a person is being untruthful. As travelers fill out their entry applications, their eye, facial, and behavioral movements would be analyzed. If the camera indicates the traveler is lying, the software will send an alert to an immigration officer who will investigate.The technology has already been successfully tested in trials conducted by EU countries in the last few years. iBorderCtrl and TRESPASS, two such trials, explored how to create an automated border control system. Several features were tested, including the lie detector tests described above. They also piloted a feature in which AI software scans the social media accounts of travelers before granting them entry.Critics of the lie-detection scheme include Patrick Breyer, a German MEP. Breyer&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13534215/Outrage-British-tourists-going-away-EU-countries-face-lie-detector-test-carried-artificial-intelligence-granted-entry.html">told</a> The Mail on Sunday that the technology is “pseudoscience” that threatens to profile the wrong people.&nbsp;“It will discriminate against anyone who is disabled or who has an anxious personality. It will not work,” said Breyer.<h2>Part of the Entry-Exit System</h2>If the EU decides to implement AI-powered lie detection, it will likely be introduced as part of the new Entry-Exit System (EES) due to take effect on October 6th. EES will replace the passport-stamping process by having foreign travelers apply for entry through self-service kiosks. These kiosks will collect the travelers’ biometric data, including their fingerprints and facial images.These data will eventually be stored in the Common Identity Repository (CIR), a massive database being built by the EU. The CIR will be capable of storing biometric files on 300 million individuals.&nbsp;<h2>EES for outsiders, digital ID for insiders</h2>While the EU prepares to roll out the EES for foreigners, including British citizens, it is also rolling out a digital ID program for EU citizens .Regulations that took effect last month&nbsp;<a href="https://frontline.news/post/europe-launches-digital-id-scheme/">require</a> EU&nbsp;Member States in the European Union to provide a digital ID wallet to their citizens by 2026 which must conform to the European Union Digital Identity (EUDI) wallet specifications. These specifications include the ability to store a taxpayer’s identity papers, such as driver’s licenses, health insurance cards, diplomas and other official documents.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h2>How will the wallet be used?</h2>The digital wallet will allow access to both public and private services. Uses include making payments, opening a bank account, getting prescriptions, signing contracts, traveling, accessing government services, receiving social security benefits, logging into social media accounts, and more.&nbsp;“It can also be used to facilitate the freedom of movement by storing documents such as the European Health Insurance Card,” explains the European Commission (EC) on its&nbsp;<a href="https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/eudi-wallet-implementation">website</a>.Under the current rules, the EUDI wallet will be optional for taxpayers.&nbsp;<h2>Critics raise concerns about the wallet</h2>The EUDI wallet’s main selling point is that users will be able to share only the details necessary to authenticate themselves for a given service. All other personal information will remain hidden. The EC expects this feature to satisfy widespread privacy concerns.But concerns about the wallet remain. The main worry is that while users only share those details that are necessary, the government can decide at any point which information is “necessary” to share. During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, the European Commission made proof of vaccination necessary to access services and establishments. Prior to that, each taxpayer’s health information was considered confidential.

face scanning.jpg

Technology could be introduced with new biometric entry system

Europe may subject travelers to lie detector tests

'Suffocate chickens with firehose foam' - Feds

Destroying animals and food for public health after one flu case despite lack of danger

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British taxpayers cheer vigilante group destroying climate cams

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UK tests emotion recognition cameras in train stations

Europe may subject travelers to lie detector tests