Uk Home Secretary Announces Compulsory Id Cards

[Cronky]

Home Secretary affirms commitment to identity cards by accelerating rollout

 

from 2011/12 identity cards will roll out to the wider population on an entirely voluntary basis.

 

They will be dishing out ID Cards and logging peoples details on the National Identity Register with passport renewals and applications. You can refuse to be involved - but you won't get a passport.

 

Beware the spin.

[Cambon]

If they were to force an ID card on me, I would shred it.

 

Luckily, my passport is up for renewal before then anyway, so I will not get involved.

[Cronky]

Luckily, my passport is up for renewal before then anyway, so I will not get involved.

 

The ID Cards Act does not, yet, apply in the Isle of Man. So, if you are resident here, you should not get caught up in the scheme.

[Declan]

Lazy gets, I wish they'd hurry up.

[John]

Why are poeple so scared about being indentifiable??

[Slim]

Why are poeple so scared about being indentifiable??

 

There's valid concerns that pinning your identity down to one thing, such as a national ID card will make it easier for someone to steal your identity not harder. There's also worries that centralised identification like this will make it easier for you to be tracked and traced in more aspects of your life. These concerns must be addressed and any identification system should be very carefully implemented and monitored.

 

So you've obviously got to weigh up the pro's and cons, but personally I think the current systems of identity aren't sufficient, and that leads to a greater risk from identity theft, that proving your identity currently is inconvenient and it's a problem that just seems to be getting worse. I, for one, welcome our data mining overlords if it means I can carry one form of identification rather than a few and avoid a stack of questions every time I sign up for something, particularly government services.

[Cambon]

So you've obviously got to weigh up the pro's and cons, but personally I think the current systems of identity aren't sufficient, and that leads to a greater risk from identity theft, that proving your identity currently is inconvenient and it's a problem that just seems to be getting worse. I, for one, welcome our data mining overlords if it means I can carry one form of identification rather than a few and avoid a stack of questions every time I sign up for something, particularly government services.

 

The biometric passport is more than sufficient. The idea of that combined with a separate ID card means they expect you to carry ID everywhere at all times. I carry my passport when I need to prove my identity. I have no wish or need to prove my identity on a daily basis, and I refuse to carry that form of identity. This is supposed to be a free country, not nazi germany!!!

 

In addition, if you are carrying ID on a daily basis it is more likely to be lost or stolen than if it is (like my passport) sitting at home in a safe.

[pongo]

I, for one, welcome our data mining overlords if it means I can carry one form of identification rather than a few and avoid a stack of questions every time I sign up for something, particularly government services.

 

But like all big unified ideas it is doomed to over complexity and failure. Because the more you try to unify things the more complex and doomed to failure they are.

 

Govts have a hopeless track record with big IT projects and this will be no exception.

 

And inevitably the database will get left on a bus or in the pub.

 

The database will not be secure because the IT industry is often lazy and incompetent about security (eg the entirely inappropriate creeping use of Windows in mission critical environments or as an embedded OS - even in MRI scanners, ATMs, remote terminals, control environments, till systems, nuclear power stations and self scanning checkouts). Sooner or later someone will decide that it is okay to attach a Windows client to the National database - which will then be potentially vulnerable to off the shelf Windows hacks. Because sooner or later not all machines get updated or because a zero day vulnerability is exploited - and because the exploits are always quickly well known. Or because someone deliberately installs something which exploits a known vulnerability.

 

If the database exists it will definitely get compromised sooner or later.

[Declan]

The biometric passport is more than sufficient. The idea of that combined with a separate ID card means they expect you to carry ID everywhere at all times. I carry my passport when I need to prove my identity. I have no wish or need to prove my identity on a daily basis, and I refuse to carry that form of identity. This is supposed to be a free country, not nazi germany!!!

 

In addition, if you are carrying ID on a daily basis it is more likely to be lost or stolen than if it is (like my passport) sitting at home in a safe.

 

But you're attitude is impacting on this brilliant idea. Why shouldn't I have a small card I can keep in my wallet for when I need to prove my identity, just because you are a bit weird? It is beyond contempt that this hasn't been introduced years ago.

 

I'm going to have to apply for a new passport soon, just in case I need to go to England, or open a bank account. And then if I'm staying in England I'm going to have to carry my passport with me everywhere or hide it in a hotel room. Because nutters are a bit worried about something or other.

[John]

The biometric passport is more than sufficient. The idea of that combined with a separate ID card means they expect you to carry ID everywhere at all times. I carry my passport when I need to prove my identity. I have no wish or need to prove my identity on a daily basis, and I refuse to carry that form of identity. This is supposed to be a free country, not nazi germany!!!

 

In addition, if you are carrying ID on a daily basis it is more likely to be lost or stolen than if it is (like my passport) sitting at home in a safe.

 

But you're attitude is impacting on this brilliant idea. Why shouldn't I have a small card I can keep in my wallet for when I need to prove my identity, just because you are a bit weird? It is beyond contempt that this hasn't been introduced years ago.

 

I'm going to have to apply for a new passport soon, just in case I need to go to England, or open a bank account. And then if I'm staying in England I'm going to have to carry my passport with me everywhere or hide it in a hotel room. Because nutters are a bit worried about something or other.

 

 

I agree with Declan, I have no problem with carrying a form of ID, yes there may be identity theft issues, but as Slim has stated, this could be stamped out if the correct system is used.

[Cambon]

But you're attitude is impacting on this brilliant idea. Why shouldn't I have a small card I can keep in my wallet for when I need to prove my identity, just because you are a bit weird? It is beyond contempt that this hasn't been introduced years ago.

 

I'm going to have to apply for a new passport soon, just in case I need to go to England, or open a bank account. And then if I'm staying in England I'm going to have to carry my passport with me everywhere or hide it in a hotel room. Because nutters are a bit worried about something or other.

 

Travelling is what passports are for. Going to England is travelling.

 

When you are here, how often do you open bank accounts? How many times per year do you have to prove your identity when not travelling? Once? Twice? and yet you would put your identity at risk by having to carry it with you everywhere! And, you call me a bit wierd?

 

Pongo is correct and Slim is wrong in this case. Read Pongo's post carefully beforer replying.

[Mutley]

For those people who are against the identity card - do you have a Tesco, Boots, other, clubcard? An identity card identifies who you are. These clubcards identify everything you eat, shit, wipe your arse with, medical problems etc. And the info is shared with multiple companies.

[Cambon]

For those people who are against the identity card - do you have a Tesco, Boots, other, clubcard? An identity card identifies who you are. These clubcards identify everything you eat, shit, wipe your arse with, medical problems etc. And the info is shared with multiple companies.

 

I don't care who knows what type of toilet paper I use. Tesco do not leave discs containing information about my DNA, tax records, medical history, any criminal history etc. on the bus, etc.

[Miss Roo]

For those people who are against the identity card - do you have a Tesco, Boots, other, clubcard? An identity card identifies who you are. These clubcards identify everything you eat, shit, wipe your arse with, medical problems etc. And the info is shared with multiple companies.

 

 

Yeah exactly, but people like to rebel against something, it was the smoking ban not so long ago and everyone (well not quite) was saying , "i'm not gonna stop smoking in blah blah". M y favourite was a young ish women interview at The Rovers in Douglas, she was harping on about how "it will never take off", so funny!

[Slim]

The biometric passport is more than sufficient. The idea of that combined with a separate ID card means they expect you to carry ID everywhere at all times. I carry my passport when I need to prove my identity. I have no wish or need to prove my identity on a daily basis, and I refuse to carry that form of identity. This is supposed to be a free country, not nazi germany!!!

 

Didn't you bleat loudly about biometric passports too? I don't have a passport, and I don't want one either, as I'm not interested in long haul flights.

 

There's nothing to say that carrying the cards will be compulsory.

 

Your reference to Nazi Germany requires a proper response: LOL!

 

In addition, if you are carrying ID on a daily basis it is more likely to be lost or stolen than if it is (like my passport) sitting at home in a safe.

 

And if it's a well designed, joined up system, that won't matter a jot.

 

 

But like all big unified ideas it is doomed to over complexity and failure. Because the more you try to unify things the more complex and doomed to failure they are.

 

Sure, but it's replacing an already big and complex system that routinely fails.

 

And inevitably the database will get left on a bus or in the pub.

The database will not be secure because the IT industry is often lazy and incompetent about security (eg the entirely inappropriate creeping use of Windows in mission critical environments or as an embedded OS - even in MRI scanners, ATMs, remote terminals, control environments, till systems, nuclear power stations and self scanning checkouts). Sooner or later someone will decide that it is okay to attach a Windows client to the National database - which will then be potentially vulnerable to off the shelf Windows hacks. Because sooner or later not all machines get updated or because a zero day vulnerability is exploited - and because the exploits are always quickly well known. Or because someone deliberately installs something which exploits a known vulnerability.

If the database exists it will definitely get compromised sooner or later.

 

All problems that are multiplied by having many federal databases.

 

Look, I'd agree with you if we were starting from scratch, but it's too late, the horse has bolted. Many companies and governments have data about you, and it's a bloody mess. Far better to have it reliably tied up to a single identity in my view.