Civil Liberties: ‘Identity card system not foolproof’…

EVIDENCE

RESPONDING to the weblog of Henry Porter, whose article entitled, “Straws in the wind“, appeared on the website of the Guardian Newspaper dated Friday, 20 November 2008.

Mr. Porter writes on the subject of the proposed Identity card system, saying:

… “Public opinion is still the principal weapon in this battle, as we see in France where after wide spread condemnation of the Edvige database, the government has reacted by scrapping its plans. Edvige was announced just as the French were leaving for the annual holiday at the end of July, an old trick, as it happens, of our dear Home Office. The database would have tracked anyone over the age of 13 who was deemed to be a threat to the state, allowing government agencies access to the medical records and to collect information on their sexual orientation.”

SYSTEMIC FAILINGS

THE PROPOSED ID CARD is, principally, the same as a tag attached to a cow’s ear: everything about it is known, its movements, traceability, treatment and physical and biological make-up. For human beings, such tracking is a serious erosion of civil liberties and privacy.

Yet, the ID card system being proposed will never be publicly accepted, if the system ever comes to fruition, because no assurance can ever be given of it being deemed foolproof. We need to look no further than recent government failings in the loss of millions of people’s loss of personal data and information, the greatest calamity being that of the Child Benefits Agency, which admitted the misplacing of details covering 26 million claimants.

The underpinning of the identity card system seeks to consolidate information from a number of proliferated sources. Safeguarding information from just one source, evidence enough, that the viability of the ID system should be in serious doubt: concerning, too, is the enormous amounts of public money that has already been allocated and consumed in a system that has thrown-up a multitude of problems. Failing to identify individuals from certain iris colours, or skin pigmentations, during trial tests, have constantly put the proposed system on the backburner without any resolve ever having been found. Still, though, vast sums of money are being allocated into the ID project with a government that remains resolutely determined to see it implemented.

The government’s willingness to continue with the identity card system reconciles directly with its own ‘Bill of Rights’ currently being considered by Jack Straw, and the Justice Ministry. If we look closely at those proposals, too, people should be able to identify a common trait that information (particularly people’s personal information) will become the preserve of central government. The government claims that such a ‘database’ will be used in confirming an individual’s identity when seeking to access public services and would deter “terrorism” but, superfluously, as the Scottish Government has rightly identified goes well beyond the pale in what is actually needed in confirming personal identity.

 

© Mark Dowe 2008: all rights protected

mark.dowe@googlemail.com

- If you are unsure of your rights relating to digital communications, you are strongly advised to seek independent legal advice and counsel.

Astute and articulate journalism