China Olympics tickets chipped with personal data
Via the Canadian Press:
China has ratcheted up surveillance and security in every phase of the Beijing Olympics - even the tickets.
In a move unprecedented for the Olympics, tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies are embedded with a microchip containing the bearer’s photograph, passport details, addresses, e-mail and telephone numbers.
The intent is to keep potential troublemakers from the 91,000-seat National Stadium as billions watch on TV screens around the world. Along with terrorists, Chinese officials fear protesters might wreck the glitzy ceremonies, unfurling Tibet flags, anti-China banners or even T-shirts adorned with strident messages.
Aside from concerns about privacy and identity theft, the high-tech tickets also threaten chaos at the turnstiles.
Will British Olympics-goers be faced with similar measures when the games come to London in 2012?
