Spain doesn’t want sensitive data from tourists

In Spain, something that will concern citizens of Western countries for a long time has just happened on a small scale. It is the struggle between a state that wants to collect data unchecked and the people who insist on freedom and privacy.

Spain has practiced this using the example of tourists. The government wanted to introduce a new population register. It stipulated that tourists would have to reveal much more personal data than before when staying in a hotel, moving into a holiday apartment or renting a car. Name, date of birth, place of residence and ID number should no longer be enough. The Spanish state also wanted to know the credit card number, email address, bank account and marital status of tourists.

Madrid revises plans

But now the Spanish government is backpedaling. The new population register should come into force. But the interior minister made it clear that tourists would not have to reveal any more data than usual for the time being. It seems to be a compromise solution with which the government can save face and which shouldn’t change much for tourists.

The fact that sanity is returning to Madrid is largely thanks to the Spanish tourism industry. She had vehemently fought the new reporting system – not for noble motives, but out of self-interest. Spain welcomed 85 million international tourists last year. This made it the second most popular travel destination in the world behind France.

The planned population register is not only a bureaucratic nightmare, but it also threatens to deter tourists, the tourism associations criticized. In fact, one can well imagine that people willing to travel would often avoid Spain if the state required them to do a data striptease.

Nervous tourism industry

On the one hand, the case shows how nervous there is in the tourism sector. It has become a combat zone. In Barcelona, ​​the city council wants to ban Airbnb apartments after angry locals attacked tourists with water guns this year. In the Balearic and Canary Islands, thousands took to the streets to protest against too many travelers.

But at the same time it is clear that tourism remains an extremely important economic sector for Spain. “Overtourism” is concentrated in a few hotspots, but in many places you don’t want to miss tourists. The industry reacts sensitively to all political moves to regulate the travel business more closely.

Against the digital surveillance state

On the other hand, this case is about fundamentals. The Spanish government justified the need for the new reporting system with security interests: the data was needed to better protect the country against terrorism and criminal activities. Whether this is true remains to be seen. In any case, it is clear that even in democratic countries, the state is in danger of becoming a data octopus that wants to access all kinds of personal data.

People should defend themselves against this. This is particularly problematic when the state collects data unchecked. In the private sector, people can still avoid it if they don’t like a provider’s approach. Not using digital services like Google or Facebook because you are concerned about your privacy is difficult. But it is possible because there are alternatives. The state, on the other hand, has a monopoly position. People cannot escape a digital surveillance state.

It is therefore to be welcomed that the Spanish government has now curbed its excessive data collection frenzy. The case holds a lesson that resonates beyond the Iberian Peninsula: the fight for privacy is worth it – and it can be won.