=
×

Julian Cope presents Head Heritage

Head To Head
Log In
Register
U-Know! Forum »
UK ID card Bill 'within four weeks'
Log In to post a reply
55 messages
Topic View: Flat | Threaded
Lord Lucan
Lord Lucan
2702 posts

Re: UK ID card Bill 'within four weeks'
May 05, 2004, 12:11
“I'd like to think that knowledge could be used as a power for the greater good but, as ever, the inherent issues (for me) are in the execution.”
You’re right. To be honest I don’t trust any government agency to keep the information attached to these cards anywhere near accurately or up-to-date enough. There really is the potential for badly inputted IDs to lead to mistaken identities, and even miscarriages of justice if it’s not done properly.
There is however the angle that with the Freedom of Information Act ID cards might actually make it easier for people to demand their rights and find out what information the government holds on each of us. Alternatively it could be used to make that information even more difficult to get hold of, which is again an issue of the way it is implemented.
I really don't hold with the 'it makes everyone just a number' argument, because we already are. We are all just a National Insurance number a number on the electorial register and most of us a passport number as far as the government is concerned anyway.
I'm interested in the civil disobedience argument above though, which I hadn’t thought of before. It really could be used by the police that way depending on the powers that they are given to use them.
I think actually you and I probably agree more than we initially thought, cammyb. It's not so much the cards themselves, as how they're used and what for exactly that worries me. Where I stand at the moment though is that I'm not convinced enough that the potential benefits outweigh the potential for them to be abused by the state or people like the police. Especially in the future, should a government with even more draconian attitudes have the ability to manipulate their use for their own political ends.
In reply to:
Re: UK ID card Bill 'within four weeks' (cammyb)		 Replies:
Re: UK ID card Bill 'within four weeks' (cammyb)
Topic Outline:
U-Know! Forum Index