I know that my name is Robbert van Rooij and that I was born on May 5th 1965 in Stiphout, the only person who is certain of that is my mother. That is also what my government knows and I am happy about that. It means that I exist! Through years of internet use, hundreds of accounts, user names and passwords, I exist very fragmented in the digital world. I have more and more trouble to hold my own identity and not release it for anyone who has other ideas with it.
Recently I was talking to a friend of mine who is a lawyer, he told me of a case where he had to defend a suspect who had been charged with 12 offenses. His DNA was found at the location of the offenses, so it was clear to the public prosecutor that he was the perpetrator. In four of these offenses, he indicated that he was not the perpetrator and he insisted on that (why, if you are already tried and convicted for 8 cases, the other four do not make any difference). Many lawyers had done nothing with this, but my friend did. Finally, he requested his DNA and identity data from the forensic institute. Fortunately there was also photo material of the offense, the man in the picture did not match the suspect. It turned out that the DNA was stored under a wrong name. What does this tell us?
In the future we will apparently have to arm ourselves against these kinds of allegations. But is our minimalistic entry in the population register sufficient? Of course not! If you do not want your DNA to be found anywhere you will have to take extensive measures. If you go to the hairdresser now and your hair is put in the garbage bag and thrown away, you voluntarily deposit material that can pop up everywhere. This applies to many things that we do in our every day lives and of course you do not think about it. As far as I am concerned, you do not have to adjust those habits, otherwise you will not have a life.

But what do we have to do? In my opinion, the time has come to voluntarily register with a globally independent institute that manages your current information for you, keeps it up to date and assists you if your identity is at stake or has been stolen, you are indicted, or can also verify your identity in trade relations or with orders over the internet. The institute manages the following for me as a customer:
• Samples of my DNA
• An iris scan, a face scan and all the biometric properties that I have recorded as well as the future techniques.
• Microchip. After all, we also chip our pets.
• Digital will. Where I can store all my valuable documents, photos, videos, digital patient records etc.
• Access to my data is guaranteed, just as I can see what my data is used for and by whom.
• All sites and people or companies with whom I do business with allow me to verify online, so that I do not have to keep hundreds of accounts.
Of all that we acquire and collect in life, digital memories are the most crucial for me. In life I want to have access to it at all times and have access to it. In case of my death, I want to be able to choose to have the data destroyed, published or made available to science. For example, my children and grandchildren have the opportunity to still visit me digitally. If there are hereditary issues then they have the reference book here. And population screening will then become easier and easier to support the next generations! I want my own internet “Pod” or time capsule!
I am well aware that such an institute is a very vulnerable organization that must be represented in almost every country. It will obtain great pressure from the business world but also from the criminal world. I also realize that this does not make everything foolproof, but that monitoring the integrity of the institute is of the utmost importance. I am sure that the various states on earth can not and do not want to fulfill this role. The need to monitor our digital identity and integrity is increasing and can only take place on a global scale.
I have ample experience with autism and I propose to set up the institute by people with autism because I know that these people belong to the most pure and honest group in our society. The institute can not live off volunteers, so there will have to be a basis for funding. My proposal is to finance it by verifying transactions for a minimum amount. After all, we do thousands of orders throughout our lives, so that the costs of the institute can easily be charged. The institute does not have to make a profit, but it has to stay up to date with biometric science or what will be further developed in the future.
We need solutions, not lengthy privacy discussions!

Angerlo, October 9th, 2018