3 replies to this topic

[Darkademic]

Who here thinks that the ID card scheme is a good idea? On The Wright Stuff this morning they said the government is planning to get everyone's fingerprints so they can solve 900,000 unsolved crimes. I think ID cards are just another step towards 1984.

[Twilight]

The only way the UK could implement their ID cards is if they totally ignored the public. In recent years, attempts to create national ID cards in the US, Korea and Taiwan have all falied because of public opposition. They are indeed a step towards a totalitarian "big brother" society where the government keeps tabs on the people's every movement and activity. This may be exaggerating the scope of the issue, but the principle remains the same.

[Mastermind]

I am astonished that anyone can think identity cards a good idea — especially on the justifications normally offered. It is not true that they will prevent the growth, let alone reduce the present incidence, of crime and terrorism. In this country and in others, the common, repeated experience has been that any document a government cares to produce can be perfectly reproduced by criminals. It is so now with banknotes and passports. It will be so in the future with “smartcards”. Indeed, those politicians now assuring us of how secure from forgery the new documents will be are either profoundly ignorant of digital technology or are lying.

[Insathius]

Very true, just as they assure us that the Internet is "safe" etc. ID cards of any kind will just be reproduced and sold on.

I personally find the statement that they will solve 900,000 unsolved crimes quite scary! ID cards are unquestionably a breach of our civil rights. Yes they might help the government but there is no way they will get away with implementing them.