Expensive and dangerous

[purpletigron]

From the Home Office ID cards unit: "...we have never said that the Identity Cards Scheme is intended to be the sole solution to identity fraud, illegal immigration and working, or terrorism. The scheme is therefore not being designed to be the primary method of combating these problems." No2ID responds: "So what is the purpose of ID cards? If they are not the "primary method", then the £5.5bn would be better invested in a visible police presence, the security services and immigration officers to protect borders and locate illegal employers and their workers"

To learn more about the flaws in ID card systems, you can read a briefing [PDF] from Liberty (the UK civil liberties and human rights organisation), the No2ID FAQ, and a briefing [PDF] from Justice (an independent all-party law reform and human rights organisation of legal professionals, academic and volunteers). No2ID are also running a petition.

Comments

[purplecthulhu.livejournal.com]

The official cost is now up to 5.5 Billion from 3.1 Billion before the election then? I see that its doing the usual skyward soar of government IT projects...

[timill]

Scope creep, I expect, plus pork-barrelling.

Much better to invest the money in improving the PNC...

[purpletigron.livejournal.com]

And it seems that now is a good time to speak out on this.

[alexmc.livejournal.com]

PNC?

Pin and CHip?

[purplecthulhu.livejournal.com]

Police National Computer... timill worked for it at one point, and might still do, IIRC...

[timill]

Still do...

[alexmc.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, I wonder if I can use the Public Whip to see how my MP voted on this issue.

[carandol.livejournal.com]

You could probably find out here: http://www.theyworkforyou.com/

[sharikkamur.livejournal.com]

I wonder if I, as an ex-pat, will have to have one?

[purpletigron.livejournal.com]

Depends for how long you're an ex-pat?

I think it's designed for all UK residents, but I can see why they might want to extend it to ex-pat nationals too.

Bleugh.

[sharikkamur.livejournal.com]

It wouldn't surprise me. Consider the following scenario: I go back to the UK for an SCA event. There's a security alert at the railway station, where I'm wandering around carrying a bag full of rapiers. I have a UK passport but not an ID card. Now, as the passport doesn't have all the biometric stuff they want for the ID card, it's immediately a 'less solid' form of identification. I can imagine having a very unpleasant time with that.

Interestingly, I don't have to register with the British Embassy here in Iceland. So even if the government had the embassies handle ID cards for ex-pats it would be very easy to slip through the net.

[profundo-rosso.livejournal.com]

Any serious criminal or terrorist will have impecable fake ID and will ensure they carry it. It's the rest of us who'll be buggered around by it.

[purpletigron.livejournal.com]

Hear, hear.