I mentioned my opinion on the government’s plans to issue all UK residents with a National ID Card when I was discussing the furore over Google Street View. In fact this is something that I have opposed for many years now, not because I have anything to worry about – I haven’t broken the law, I’m registered for taxes and National Insurance, voting, I have a passport and a (provisional) driving license. (Yes, I can’t drive – no matter how hard I try!)
I have a very distinctive name that I don’t try to hide online, and my job means that my name is out in the public domain every time someone writes in to the company I work for. So it’s not that I don’t want people to know who I am.
I’m registered with loads of websites, social media sites and (as I said in that post) – I’m a big Google fan! But why am I happy to share my details with the likes of Google Profiles, Facebook, myspace and twitter but I don’t want to give personal information to my government? Well, it’s quite simple, the government can’t look after the information it has already.
The government have been very nice about it though, they’re telling us Why we need ID Cards, in a detailed and well thought out way, with no vagueness whatsoever. They tell us how an ID card will help prevent against identity fraud and theft AND make sure that people are who they say they are. Because (as we all know) most identity fraud is committed face to face in a place where an ID card be requested, as this APACS report clearly shows, oh wait – no it doesn’t!
OK then, they can be used to “Tackle” illegal working and immigration abuse, is is just me or is “tackle” a very vague term? And of course the first thing that most illegal workers and immigrants think of is how easy it is to to come over here and steal our jobs since we don’t have any way of identifying them like passports, National Insurance numbers… Actually, I’m sure I can think of another political party who would love to use this as an arguement…
Ah, but wait – ID cards are the ideal way to “disrupt the use of false and multiple identities by criminals and those involved in terrorist activity.” Because terrorists aren’t criminals, they’re something completely different that need to be disrupted by having to register their details (including fingerprints and retina scans) to get a card. Of course if you see a criminal breaking into your house all you’ll need to do is ask to see his ID card. And when the next terrorist plot appears to be a bomb campaign against a city the fact that the (probably British born and raised, or if not then very likely legal visitor to the country) has an ID card will be the perfect defence.
OK then, maybe the arguements aren’t completely thought through in absolute detail just yet… but surely ID cards will “ensure free public services are only used by those entitled to them and enable easier access to public services”, won’t they?
Well, if the Identity and Passport Service means that unpersons without ID Cards won’t be able to sign up for a library card or free bus pass then surely it’s worth the £5.5 billion+ that the government’s spent on it? Isn’t it?
No.
