“Scent profiling” in Germany

Germany is collecting “scent samples” of agitators in the runup to the G8 summit to be held in Heiligendamm. Their security people are worried about large-scale protests to be held when the world’s top leaders meet June 6-8. The samples, from perspiration traces and from scraps of clothing, are being collected for potential use in tracking down suspects if violence occurs. But many German leaders are saying such tactics hearken back to the infamous Stasi who operated in East Germany.

Minister Brigitte Zyprie, other members of the ruling Social Democrats, attorney groups and Stasi victims said they were stunned police collected scent traces of select activists ahead of expected protests against the June world leaders’ summit.

The East German security police — the omnipresent Stasi — routinely collected scents from dissidents, often from bits of clothing sealed in airtight containers for storage, in order to track defectors or suspects later with the help of sniffer dogs.

Let’s hope our own DHS doesn’t get wind of this.