• balsoft@lemmy.ml
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    3 days ago

    I don’t know why the downvotes. Yeah, this is how it works in many (most?) parts of the world, legally speaking the police can require you to show papers or get detained. In the EU it’s a bit easier because “papers” is typically either your driving license or just a small plastic card with identification info which easily fits into a wallet or a phone case. E.g. in Russia you are required to always carry an A6-sized paper “passport book” (!) which contains a lot of info about you (name, place of birth, place of permanent residence, place of temporary residence, marital status, children, etc) and present it to the police when asked.

    If the definition of a free country is “police can’t force you to present a valid ID while in a public place” then I doubt there are many “free countries” on earth at all.

    I agree that it’s kinda dumb and it sucks, IMO the police should have at the very least a reasonable suspicion of some criminal activity in order to arrest you, but it’s not unique to the US.

    • bigmamoth@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      here they are lenient with it. A picture on your phone is enough and you also have gouvernement app that can be use. I dont feel like my freedom is impeach because of it

    • notabot@piefed.social
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      3 days ago

      IMO the police should have at the very least a reasonable suspicion of some criminal activity in order to arrest you

      IMO the police should have at the very least a reasonable suspicion of some criminal activity in order to even ask you to identify yourself, let alone arrest you.