National Identity Cards (UK)

I saw this little gem, funny and hints at the problems associated with the proposed ID card. http://eclectech.co.uk/clarkeidcards.php

"I've no particular objection to an ID card in principle, however this card is being marketed falsely as a tool against terrorism and complex crime. In addition the technologies used do not yet work reliably, the cost to businesses for scanners extortionate and the proposed ‘database’ a serious threat to our civil liberties. I will not accept such a scheme willingly."

http://www.pledgebank.com/refuse
http://www.no2id.net/

  • ID Cards will cost at least £10 billion to setup. (The Register - comment on LSE report, LSE report)
  • Biometric scanners will cost two to three thousand each for businesses and will need to be replaced after an unknown period of time. The Home office quotes 3 to 4 hundred despite UK passport office experience to the contrary. (Silicon.com - comment on LSE report, LSE report)
  • Fingerprints, Iris scans etc are not required for a passport, only a photograph (Facial biometric). (UK Passport Office)
  • ID Cards will NOT decrease major crime and will have no affect on terrorism at best. In fact it would be easier to prove a false identity, relying on automation rather than human common sense for verification. (The Times, Privacy International (PDF)
  • The biometric scanning technology is unreliable. (The Register)
  • A single central database recording all known "facts" about an individual is a catastrophe waiting to happen, one unethical employee and we are all up the creek without a paddle. (No2ID - Information planned to be included)
  • Government IT projects have an inversely proportional effectiveness to ambition, this is the most ambitious yet and could be the most expensive and unworkable in living memory (DWP, NHS, CSA...).