The data lottery
Posted on Monday, November 17th, 2008 by Home Office WatchCategory: ID Cards
In a new twist on the National Lottery, Jacqui Smith announced earlier this month that the Home Office would be approaching outlets such as supermarkets and Post Offices to help issue ID Cards.
Guy Herbert, from No2ID said: “It sounds like a mad fantasy of setting up something like a Photo-Me kiosk to collect fingerprints. Leaving aside the technical and security issues, both would be risky from the point of view of the reputation of the organisations involved, and financially terrifying.”
Today, znet.co.uk reports that the public have rejected such a scheme:
“Only 25 percent of more than 2,000 people questioned for the government’s Central Office of Information would consider having their fingerprints, photo and signature recorded for an ID card in a supermarket, according to research commissioned by the Identity and Passport Service (IPS). This increased to just 26 percent for a petrol station, 28 percent for a department store and 29 percent for a local shop.”
Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Tom Brake said:
“Signing up for an ID card isn’t like buying a lottery ticket. It’s clear ministers are desperate to find any means to get people to sign up for an ID card. This is just their latest half-baked attempt.”
Jacqui Smith wants to make signing up for an ID card as convenient as buying a scratchcard - but the odds of the Government “redistributing” your private information must be significantly better than winning the jackpot!
Related posts:
November 18th, 2008 at 10:48 am
I cannot image the horror of prison, but I see no other option but to refuse this card. How can I protect myself, given that I will not submit to one?
November 18th, 2008 at 10:56 am
I will resist this ID card as much as I am able. I do not believe it will serve any purpose other than giving tis control freak government even more control over our lives. I do believe it will greatly increase this incidence of identity fraud
November 18th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Wow! 25%
I can’t believe that many people could be so naive to be voluntarily recorded by the modern day Stasi wannabe’s.
November 18th, 2008 at 11:17 am
I have made a pledge that IF this Government succeeds in foisting this abomination on us I will personally go to the nearest police station and cut it up in front of them. If am sent to prison, SO BE IT. How DARE they attempt to turn our Country into a police state.
November 18th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Please go to this video on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVenh0sZzfU
Compulsory ID cards are a wicked idea and wholly un-British
November 18th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
And these clowns expect us to trust them with our security ? !!
They seem to be confusing “security risk” with a “security blanket”.
November 18th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
It is time that we advocated civil disobedience in respect of this mad,ineffective and terribly wasteful project.Both Chris Huhne and Nick Clegg have already indicated that they are unwilling to accept such cards, but the Party as a whole needs to take a stronger “public stance”. Since the UK prisons are already full, there cannot be room for thousands of liberal democrats, surely?
November 18th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
I can’t see the point of spending so much time and money enabling genuine law-abiding citizens to prove their identity on the spot when they will be able to prove who they are quickly anyway. The villains and illegals will be no worse off. F.H.
November 18th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
I wonder if anyone in the Home Office participated as a guineapig in their own ID cards pilot? I did, and getting the fingerprint registration done correctly took several attempts even with all the equipment and several staff to hand. Admittedly the iris scan was worse, and they have now dropped that - but the idea that even the fingerprinting can be done adequately in a busy shop with minimal facilities is fantastical. I went in largely unbothered about ID cards and came out strongly against them.
November 18th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
I would ask anyone using the system described at the following website, http://www.freeidprotection.co.uk, why they’d need an ID Card?
The system uses a combination of the Credit Reference Agencies Databases and information that you insist should be there, that lenders and banks must act upon.
Your biometric is used without ever being held on a database.
The system is simplicity itself and provides you, the individual with a proactive way of protecting your ID. It’s a way of forcing crooks to show their hand, if they wish to use your personal information for financial gain.
Check out the website, it does what it says on the can.
November 18th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
Why?
November 19th, 2008 at 9:33 am
i think this is the new ‘Poll Tax’ and will be what finally sends this government to the opposition benches at the next election. The key to opposition to these cards is to get a new government elected.
November 21st, 2008 at 8:56 am
Whilst I am not afraid of ID cards as I have nothing to hide anyway, I do strongly believe that they will prove a total waste of time since they will be easy to fake by those who would wish to do so and have the necessary skills and facilities. There are far more important thibngs to spend tax payers’ money on.
November 24th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
I hope that the whole scheme will be abondoned to save the cost. The Chancellor is looking for Budget savings
I would not go to a supermarket, or other commercial outlet for an ID card, even if I were in favour of cards.
December 6th, 2008 at 10:55 am
I have worked for the Home Office for nearly 30 years the culture there is hierachial,dogmatic and controling (can I be arrested for saying that?)so I would say to anyone unsure of or supporting the introduction if these ID cards to have a very serious think about where their introduction could lead. In my view they will not be a benign item to be conveniently used by the holder. Is it not significant that the retail industry is in the forefront of their distribution,since they will be the ones who stand to benefit most from having the maximum amount of information about us. Stand firm against them I will not carry one.