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ID Cards Fact and Fiction

ID Cards Fact and Fiction

ID cards are touted as being the answer to the fight against terrorism. So once we get ID cards, with the appropriate biometric tests to ensure that we are who we claim to be, life will be great, no more terrorism! Then we can all settle down to life without the risk of a terrorist attack? This is a fact, or is it?

The reality is that this is more of a fiction based fantasy than a factual reality. Indeed the truth about ID cards is quite spooky and we should all be aware of this truth, because some day it could affect all our lives.

Spain, China (which is hardly the promoter of civil liberties) and indeed the US, have all come out and publicly declared that national ID cards have been found to be relatively ineffective in terms of fighting the war against terror. In a way this makes logical sense. Simply because someone does or does not have an ID card hardly makes a difference to whether or not they engage in terrorist activities. In addition, people can already be stopped and asked to produce identity. So what is the problem? Why do we need ID cards?

The truth is that we don’t and they are going to cost around £2 billion, according to the government. This too is a flight of fancy as the costs have already escalated and the figure is now estimated to be over 3.3 billion. This may not be the end of the matter. The Tories have already carried out their own assessment of the costs and they reckon that it will be in the region of £14.5 billion. Many experts concur that this is actually a much more realistic assessment of the true costs: and we would probably still end up having to pay to get one!

So, we are going to pay around £14.5 billion pound for ID cards when they have been shown to have limited value in the fight against terror? That really doesn’t seem smart, particularly when the credit crunch is hitting almost everyone and the price of fuel is going through the roof. Why spend money on a scheme that has been shown to be ineffective and at the same time cannot find money to help people survive the credit crunch.

Those in favour of ID cards should consider that the Home Office (official) IT systems have actually been hacked into 5 times in 5 years. So if that is the level of security they offer us, then why should we trust that they will keep our details safe?

Actually the government’s record with regard to the handling of sensitive data is not bad it is abysmal. In 2007, they lost the personal details of the 25 million people who are in receipt of child benefit. So what they would do with ID information is simply too frightening to imagine. Indeed perhaps the government should just cut out the ‘middle man’ and post all our details on the internet! After all they can’t even look after sensitive ‘top secret’ information and twice have left it on a train. Or in the case of Hazel Blears, you breach official rules and load your own laptop with secret data and then leave it in your home. Then when it gets stolen you shriek hysterically and act like it isn’t your fault.

The government also has a very poor record with regard to IT. Yet they want to link the ID card scheme to a database which would ‘read’ the details presented if you are stopped by the police or you want to travel overseas. Look at the mess that the government has had with the CSA, which was the organisation set up to recover child support payments. Repeatedly this database has failed. Yet what will happen and it is very likely to happen) when the ID card database fails?

People could be stuck abroad or unable to travel outside of the UK? People suspected of being terrorists could languish in prison or holding cells, until the database established their identity. Thousands of innocent people could potentially be jailed for days, if not weeks.

If all that is scary, then there is a final fact about ID cards that everyone should know. The results of a government appointed panel of security experts and leaders in the field of national security found that ID cards would be prone to fraud being committed by the people who were appointed to run the system. So the result would be that the people running the ID system would make a lot of money by potentially selling your data to criminals. This is not just a conspiracy theory, but the results of a government appointed review of the scheme. So what does the government do? It just ignores the findings and continues on with ID cards.

So to sum up, people really need to make a decision based on the facts. The ID scheme has been proven not to reduce terrorist activity in other countries. The scheme could cost £14.5 billion. The government has a truly bad record at establishing databases and handling security. The scheme would also be liable to those running it committing fraud and selling personal details.

And who would be at the helm of this brave new scheme? Well Mr Brown of course, described by Vincent Cable as ‘Mr Bean’. What more needs to be said? It really is a no-brainer!

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Uncategorized written by Doug Scott