21 November 2008

After years of little more than hot air from a sequence of Home Secretaries, we’re finally getting to see the fine detail [1] of what “ID cards” will really mean to the average person. It may be quite a shock to those who haven’t been paying attention.

It is not just the sheer amount of personal information that you will be required to surrender – a wake-up for any remaining who thought this was a simple card – it is the threats that will be used to force compliance. You could have £1000 penalties sent to you by e-mail [2] if IPS thinks you’ve been bad – and why might they think that?

If you fail to turn up at a time and place of their choosing; refuse to be fingerprinted, photographed or hand over documents (e.g. birth or marriage certificates); fail to tell them you’ve moved house for 3 months.

And anything that *they* reckon is “deliberate or reckless” provision of incorrect information could lead to 2 years in prison. Welcome to a lifetime of state identity control…

Phil Booth, NO2ID [3] national coordinator said:

So the state ‘managing’ your identity boils down to telling them everything there is to know about you, under threat – and coughing up time and again for the privilege.

This must be a wake-up call for everyone who bought the line that ID was just a simple card.

-ENDS-

Notes for editors:

1) ‘Identity Cards Act Secondary Legislation – A Consultation’ can be found on the IPS website:
http://www.ips.gov.uk/identity/downloads/NIS_Legislation.pdf

2) Only the first official warning need be by letter, and that will give you just a fortnight to comply.

3) NO2ID is the UK-wide non-partisan campaign against ID cards and the database state. See http://www.no2id.net/dbstate.php for a list of ‘database state’ initiatives that NO2ID is actively opposing.

4) Other dubious ‘highlights’ include:
•  a tax on marriage – women who change their name will have to buy a new card;
•  those without bank accounts won’t be able to get ID – you can only pay by credit or debit card, or cheque;
•  the homeless will be able to nominate a park bench as their ‘address’

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