Curiouser and Curiouser!

Curiouser and Curiouser! on id-cards http://matt.blogs.it/ RSS feed for topic id-cards Copyright 2006 Matt Mower Squib/0.1 self@mattmower.com self@mattmower.com en-gb Enough is enough. I don't want to pay! Fri, 07 May 2004 18:48:18 +0100 <blockquote><a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/07/id_scheme_laundry/">Blunkett risks ID card battle with EU</a>. Legal questions as real cost exceeds £3.1bn By John Lettice <john.lettice @theregister.co.uk="">. [<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/">The Register</a>]</john.lettice> <john.lettice @theregister.co.uk=""></john.lettice></blockquote> <john.lettice @theregister.co.uk=""> I think this is a deplorable waste of £3.1bn (and counting) of our tax money. We are being forced to pay to have our own civil liberties curtailed! </john.lettice> http://matt.blogs.it/entries/00002197.html You think it won't happen to you? It will happen to someone... Tue, 11 May 2004 23:09:17 +0100 <blockquote>He was, for example, unaware of the biometric technology's influence on his case until 2002, and prior to this had come up with some decidedly paranoid theories to explain why his life was being destroyed because of a traffic violation. As indeed, you might. [<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/11/identix_false_id_suit/">DHS and UK ID card biometric vendor in false ID lawsuit - The Register</a>] </blockquote> Of course the government will argue that this type of flaw will never be possible in their system (just like the way the banks always argue that the ATM system is flawless, only more so). This is the government we are talking about. We should know better. So before you nod your head about how good an idea all this biometric ID card shit is, just think for a moment about this happening here. Maybe it won't happen to lots of people, perhaps just a good friend of yours, or maybe your daughter, or maybe even you. Good luck getting your life back. http://matt.blogs.it/entries/00002226.html Mistaken Identity Fri, 14 May 2004 17:36:08 +0100 <a href="http://www.stand.org.uk/">The Stand</a> are stepping up to the plate on ID Card starting with an <a href="http://www.stand.org.uk/mistakenidentity.php3">event</a> on May 19th <blockquote> <h1>Mistaken Identity</h1> <h2>A public meeting on the Governments proposed National Identity Card</h2> Wednesday May 19, 2004; 13:3017:00 hrs The Old Theatre, London School of Economics Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE Organised by <a href="http://www.privacyinternational.org/">Privacy International</a>, in association with <a href="http://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk">Liberty</a>, <a href="http://www.statewatch.org/">Statewatch</a>, <a href="http://www.stand.org.uk">Stand.org.uk</a>, <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/">The Register</a>, <a href="http://www.blink.org.uk/">The 1990 Trust</a> and the <a href="http://www.fipr.org/">Foundation for Information Policy Research</a>. Hosted by the Department of Information Systems of the London School of Economics The government has introduced draft legislation for a national identity card. The card system will cost at least £3 billion and is likely to become an essential part of life for everyone residing in the UK. If the draft legislation is accepted by Parliament, everyone will be required to register for a card. Biometric scans of the face, fingers and eye will be taken. Personal details will be stored in a central database. A unique number will be issued that will become the basis for the matching of computer systems. The proposed card may be required to access vital public services and to receive benefits. The government proposes to enforce the programme through numerous new criminal and civil offenses, including provision for unlimited financial penalty and up to ten years' imprisonment. The implications for everyone in the UK are far-reaching. Join us at this important meeting to hear from key figures in the fields of law, politics, security, technology and human rights. Decide for yourself whether this is a plan that should be supported. The meeting is free of charge. </blockquote>I'll be going and I hope lots of other people will as well. http://matt.blogs.it/entries/00002236.html What government is all about Wed, 19 May 2004 12:12:12 +0100 <blockquote><a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/19/id_card_poll_tax/">ID card backlash: is the poll tax effect kicking in?</a>. Large numbers prepared for demos, even prison By John Lettice <john.lettice @theregister.co.uk="">. [<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/">The Register</a>]</john.lettice> <john.lettice @theregister.co.uk=""></john.lettice></blockquote> <john.lettice @theregister.co.uk=""> The governments ID card scheme will, inevitably, lead to compuslory requirement to carry backed by prison & fines.  It will inevitably lead to us registering our changes of address backed by prison & fines.  It will inevitably lead to large central databases holding information about us which will be inaccurate & poorly managed.  It will inevitably lead to corruption and malpractice.  It will have minimal positive impact in the areas the government will claim.  It will also cost us a fortune to install and maintain.  This is, after all, what government is all about.</john.lettice> http://matt.blogs.it/entries/00002249.html The Lords give me pause for thought again Tue, 17 Jan 2006 09:47:32 +0000 It's a topsy-turvy world alright. When Labour came to power, oh so long ago now, with a plan to get rid of the undemocratic house of lords my attitude was: <blockquote> Bring it on. The sooner the better! </blockquote> So it's confusing to me how glad I am that it didn't happen. This government (which I voted against) seems hell bent on following the U.S. lead of plunging towards a culture of secrecy and unconstrained executive power. The Lords have turned out to be a valuable counterweight for at least some of those abuses. Yesterday the Lords <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4619218.stm">voted in favour of 3 ammendments to the Home Office ID Card bill</a>. Of particular significance is the ammendment to block the scheme until the full costs are known. Reading about it earlier there was a suggestion that the National Audit Office should evaluate any proposed costings by the home office. I think that is a sound idea. I would rather have an open, scrutinzed, process and risk paying more than take the risk of letting the government continue to operate in secret. As any reader of this blog cannot but be aware: I am dead against a mandatory ID card as envisaged by the Home Office. The idea of a system to speed up my access to government I am for. Better government record keeping of significant life events (births, deaths, and so on) I am for (they are shockingly bad at this). Voluntary identity cards, that people can choose to carry as a convenience, I am for. But I reject the right of the government to have me tagged and squirrel away every detail they can about me in their snoopers register (aka NIRS). It seems to me that this government runs with open arms towards a massive, centralized, state bureacracy that interferes with our lives whilst shielded from scrutiny by increasing secrecy about its own actions. <img width="" height="" src="http://matt.blogs.it/images/misc/tonystalin.jpg" alt="Uncle Tony commands and you obey!"/> We know where this kind of socialism leads. (My thanks to <a href="mailto:sanehatter@gmail.com">Matt Lyon</a> for the excellent rendering of our glorius leader!) http://matt.blogs.it/entries/00003239.html