News - Q&A: Identity cards
BBC News looks at how the government's identity cards scheme would work
Action Network - ID cards
An article outlining the arguments for and against ID cards, the latest policy developments and how to get involved
Cards 'not answer to theft of ID'
A study claims that identity cards may not solve the problem of ID fraud.
05/09/2005
Criminals to 'adapt to ID cards'
The UK government's proposed ID scheme will do little to stop identity theft and fraud, studies on criminals suggest.
04/09/2005
'Health underclass' ID card fear
Identity cards could create a "health underclass", warn the Lib Dems as opposition to the scheme is renewed.
05/08/2005
Labour admits ID card 'oversell'
A Home Office minister admits the government "oversold" the advantages of national identity cards.
04/08/2005
Youth MPs ready for city debate
ID cards will be among issues debated at the annual sitting of the UK Youth Parliament.
21/07/2005
ID cards 'wouldn't stop attacks'
ID cards might help counter terror but would not have stopped the London bombs, the home secretary says.
08/07/2005
2 comments:
I'm not sure that the ID card scheme will actually increase the amount of info held on us by government - though I'm sure it'll make it easier for them to manage, and to pass between government agencies and departments. In 1987 the first programme in Duncan Campbell's "Secret Society" series (the one that led to Special Branch raiding the BBC offices in Glasgow) was about just this. They already know who we are, when we were born, where we live and what we do.
Nor am I convinced by some of the liberal arguments, such as ID cards being likely to lead to an increase in stop and search - surely the problem is down to the relations between the police and ethnic minorities, rather than one of tech? Sure enough, they won't help any.
My main objection to them is thus: passports essentially confirm - or limit - your right to travel to other countries. Fair enough, or we'd all be living on the Cote d'Azur. But ID cards are about granting you permission to live in your own country. The notion of having to go to register my iris and fingerprints induces an overwhelming desire to head for the hills. The nosy copper syndrome gone malignant.
Yes, that is my main reason for objecting as well.
But the difference between having a centralised database and lots of separate databases is this: at the moment they can find out everything about you, but it takes a lot of effort - with a centralised database, they can find everything out about you really quickly and easily, and it'll probably be incorrect as well.
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