Quote:
Originally Posted by MiniMatt
"Nothing to hide, nothing to fear"? That could be interpreted as "do nothing wrong and we'll leave you alone" - that's pretty much how western democracies have been run in the past. The interpretation we're moving toward however is "tell us everything you do, and we'll decide if it's wrong or not".
|
My thoughts exactly. If I haven't done anything wrong why should the state need to know any more about me other than my Tax and NI details. I don't bother the state, the state doesn't bother me, sounds fair.
I'd like to know just how these cards are supposed to be any better than anything else so far. OK, they have biometric data embedded but it's no big deal to produce a forged card with the retina or finger print of the holder. Chip and PIN was supposed to be the last word in fraud prevention but it wasn't long before people were pointing out how it could be circumvented. To paraphrase E E "Doc" Smith, anything that technology can create, the same technology can analyse and duplicate...
The only way I can think to make it anything like secure is to have a central database against which the card and the holder are checked in real time. That means everyone with a reason to check ID, which I imagine will extend to employers and landlords as well as numerous public employees since it is being touted as a weapon against illegal workers and fraud as well as terrorism, is going to need access to some sort of terminal. If the government record on delivering IT projects is anything to go by I just can't see that happening, at least not this century.
My objection is this, the whole ID card scheme is being sold as a silver bullet which will solve all our criminal, immigration, housing, benefit, employment problems in one fell swoop. In principal it's a great idea but in practice it is going to be expensive, bureaucratic and too many reputations are riding on it for the plan to be viewed objectively.