24 August 2006

Coming to the defence of Councils across the UK that have passed motions against ID cards [1], civil liberties and privacy campaigners [2] this
morning attacked Caerphilly MP Wayne David for his ill-informed hyping of the scheme’s effect on terrorism [3].

Phil Booth, NO2ID National Coordinator said:

Unsubstantiated claims that ID cards are “crucial” in fighting terrorism simply won’t wash. International evidence shows they have little to no effect [4], and to claim otherwise at this time is opportunist at best.

Maybe Wayne David should take the lead from ministers of his own party. Charles Clarke, Home Secretary during the 7/7 atrocities, admitted that ID
cards could not prevent terrorist attacks [5] and Mr David clearly hasn’t noticed the resounding silence from John Reid on ID cards over the past
fortnight.

The government’s ID scheme fundamentally undermines the freedoms and personal privacy of every person in the UK. NO2ID applauds every Council and
Councillor who opposes this unprecedented assault on civil liberties and the British way of life.

- ENDS -

Notes for editors

1) List of anti-ID councils and motions:
http://www.no2id.net/resources/motions/index.php

2) NO2ID is the UK-wide, non-partisan campaign against compulsory ID cards and the National Identity Register, see http://www.no2id.net

3) As reported by the BBC, 23/8/06: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/5276128.stm

4) As reported by the BBC, 8/7/05: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4663155.stm

5) “Of the 25 countries that have been most adversely affected by terrorism since 1986, eighty per cent have national identity cards, one third of which
incorporate biometrics.” – see ‘Mistaken Identity; Exploring the Relationship Between National Identity Cards & the Prevention of Terrorism’
http://www.privacyinternational.org/issues/idcard/uk/id-terrorism.pdf

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 24/8/06

Civil liberties and privacy campaigners [1] today expressed outrage at the leaked announcement that ministers plan to overturn one of the key
principles of Data Protection [2], granting government agencies the right to share personal data across the public sector.

Phil Booth, NO2ID National Coordinator said:

Our worst suspicions have been confirmed. The government’s ID agenda has always been based on a drastic expansion of data sharing powers, but this
announcement will mark its clearest and widest attack on privacy yet.

Do we really want officials passing on our personal details to all and sundry who claim to be within the public sector? Given the genuine risk of
identity fraud and the appalling record of government in protecting the personal information of its own employees [3], let alone the public [4],
this is not only a recipe for disaster but a display of monumental arrogance.

Tony Blair’s plans to ‘transform’ government [5] boil down to handing over effective control of our identities to the authorities. Nakedly trampling
over the laws that protect our privacy in pursuit of a technocratic fantasy is a despicable abuse of the public trust. NO2ID has challenged the
government’s ID scheme and every insidious expansion of it from the very beginning, and will continue to do so with every means at our disposal.

- ENDS -

Notes for editors

1) NO2ID is the UK-wide, non-partisan campaign against compulsory ID cards and the National Identity Register, see http://www.no2id.net

2) ‘Ministers plan to overturn key data protection principle’, The Guardian, 24/8/06:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,1856760,00.html

3) ‘Tax credit gangs may have defrauded millions’, The Independent, 13/12/05:
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article332918.ece

4) ‘DVLA selling drivers’ personal details to firms run by crooks’, The Scotsman, 28/11/05:
http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=3D2313242005

5) ‘Transformational Government – Enabled by Technology’, published by the Cabinet Office in November 2005, clearly states that “identity
management… will converge towards biometric identity cards and the National Identity Register” (p 13, section 7):
http://www.cio.gov.uk/transformational_government/strategy/

8 August 2006

NO2ID this morning welcomed the Sixth Report of the Science & Technology Committee, which brands the ID programme “inconsistent” and “confused”, and accuses the Home Office of “lack of clarity” and transparency. The investigation left members of the Committee variously “sceptical”, “concerned” and even “incredulous” [1] with regard to the claimed costs of the scheme.

Meanwhile Tony Blair’s announcement that ID cards will form a “major plank” of the Labour Party manifesto at the next General Election [2] met with howls of derision from opponents.

Phil Booth, NO2ID [3] National Coordinator said:

The most damning aspect of this report is the sum of its criticisms. It seems there isn’t a single substantial aspect of the ID programme that doesn’t need urgent remedial action =96 and the Committee makes it quite clear that the Home Office has been warned about this time and again.

Driven by a political agenda all along, the Home Office’s utter failure to engage properly with the public, experts and industry, and its culture of secrecy and bullying means that it now doesn’t even have the basic level of trust required to proceed. Despite all the Committee’s recommendations this scheme can’t be fixed, so it should be dropped and the Act repealed before even more damage is done.

For Tony Blair to start writing a manifesto for an election in which he won’t even stand as an MP smacks of sheer desperation. Scrabbling for some sort of legacy, he’s trying to lumber his successor with the millstone of his bankrupt and delusional ID policies.

- ENDS -
Notes for editors

1) “… we are incredulous that the Home Office is seemingly able to produce firm costings regarding the running costs of the scheme when the costs of
the technology are not yet clear” – paragraph 103 of the Science and Technology Committee’s Sixth Report ‘Identity Card Technologies:
Scientific Advice, Risk and Evidence’: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmsctech.htm

2) See, ID cards in ‘in Labour’s manifesto’, BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5242300.stm

3) NO2ID is the UK-wide, non-partisan campaign against compulsory ID cards and the National Identity Register, see http://www.no2id.net