is the amount of time a photocopy of your passport is kept on record in Italy if you want to use the Internet at an Internet cafe or a public WiFi spot. 10 years! I find it hard to believe. What I don’t find hard to believe is that this is the result of a law introduced before the 2006 Turin Olympics in order to fight terrorism. Obviously a “very smart” decision by the Italian government. I am sure they’ve caught numerous terrorists by now.
Oh, and for those Germans with a fingerprint stored in their passport: Anyone who has access to the photocopy made at the Internet cafe will be able to get a wireless download of your fingerprint from the passport’s RFID chip for the next ten years.