Embargoed until 00:01 Monday 25th January 2010

The Home Office today announces that young people in London may enroll in its National Identity Scheme from February 8th, suggesting that it offers a ‘convenient’ form of proof of age. NO2ID [1] suggests that targetting London’s young is even less likely to achieve wide use than the heavily promoted pilot in Manchester [2].

Phil Booth, National Coordinator of NO2ID said:

If it were not for the sinister consequences for anyone foolish
enough to be a guinea pig, this would be ludicrous as well as
wasteful.

You can spend £10 on a proof-of-age card from an independent charity with no other commitment; or you can pay £30 now, be fingerprinted, and agree to account for your personal details to the Home Office for the rest of your life. The government believes you will choose the second, and is spending £230,000 of taxpayers money a day [3] on that basis.

-ENDS-

Notes for editors:

[1] NO2ID is the UK-wide non-partisan campaign against ID cards and
the database state.
See http://www.no2id.net/dbstate for a list of ‘database state’ initiatives that NO2ID is actively opposing, and
http://www.no2id.net/datasharing for how it all fits together.
NO2ID’s ‘Don’t be a guinea-pig’ campaign is at: http://www.no2id.net/idcardcon/

[2] See, ‘Hundreds of ID cards taken up in NW England,’ BBC 21 Jan 2010
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8472030.stm
The Home Office claims that, ‘A total of 2,700 identity cards are now
in circulation in Manchester and the North West.’ In Greater Manchester alone there are more than 3,000 births a month.

[3] See, ‘ID cards to go on sale for the first time in Manchester,’ The Times 17 Nov 2009
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6919333.ece

For further information, or for immediate or future interview, please contact:
Phil Booth (National Co-ordinator, national.coordinator@no2id.net) on
07974 230 839
Guy Herbert (General Secretary, general.secretary@no2id.net) on 07956 544 308 (Central London)
Michael Parker (Press Officer, press.officer@no2id.net) on 07773 376 166

Immediate: 12th January 2010

Yesterday, on the same day that the European Court of Human Rights ruled that stop and search powers under the Terrorism Act are too wide[1], it emerged that City of London police are claiming they may demand identification from photographers – powers that no legislation gives them.

In a statement given to Amateur Photographer [2], City of London Police said: ‘Photographers should carry identification where
possible and be prepared to answer questions about why they are taking photographs, if they are asked.’

Even under the controversial – from today arguably illegal – ’stop and account’ powers in the Terrorism Act 2000, police have no power arbitrarily to demand you identify yourself, let alone produce documents on the spot. They can only do so in connection with the investigation of a suspected offence.[3]

Phil Booth, NO2ID’s National Coordinator[4], said:

Even the Terrorism Act does not give police power to demand identification arbitrarily. In backing this ‘advice to photographers’ by vague menaces, the City force is trying to make it compulsory to carry ID in the square mile. Anyone with a mobile is a photographer nowadays.

It is not a free country where police make up powers to suit themselves. If what you are doing is lawful, then your identity is no business of the police.

This is a perfect illustration of the danger of the government’s ID scheme. They’ll say they ‘need to know’. They don’t. Official ID obsession means harassment for citizens – legally or illegally.

-ENDS-

Notes for editors:

1. Gillan and Quinton v the United Kingdom:
   ‘…the powers of authorisation and confirmation as well as those of stop and search… are neither sufficiently circumscribed nor subject to adequate legal safeguards against abuse. … .They are not therefore ‘in accordance with the law’.’
   See: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/6975087/Stop-and-search-under-terror-laws-unlawful-Europe-rules.html; Liberty conducted the case
2. Amateur Photographer, 12 January 2010 http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/news/Police_Photographers_should_carry_identification_news_292902.html
3. Taking photographs is rarely an offence.‘Officers should be reminded that it is not an offence for a member of the public or journalist to take photographs of a public building and use of cameras by the public does not ordinarily permit use of stop and search power,’Chief Constable Andrew Trotter has written, setting out ACPO’s opinion.
4. NO2ID is the UK-wide non-partisan campaign against ID cards and the database state. See http://www.no2id.net/dbstate for a list of ‘database state’ initiatives that NO2ID is actively opposing, and http://www.no2id.net/datasharing for how it all fits together.

For further information, or for immediate or future interview, please contact:

• Phil Booth (National Co-ordinator, national.coordinator@no2id.net) on 07974 230 839
• Guy Herbert (General Secretary, general.secretary@no2id.net) on 07956 544 308 (Central London)
• Michael Parker (Press Officer, press.officer@no2id.net) on 07773 376 166

7th January 2010

The Home Secretary has admitted in a Parliamentary answer [1] that the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) is collecting National Insurance numbers from every person who applies for an ID card, and storing them on the National Identity Register – the ID card database.

As from next year it will be compulsory to apply for entry on the National Identity Register in order to receive a passport, this means that all passport applicants will also have their NI number collected and stored for life.

Mr Johnson’s answer failed to mention other categories of information, in addition to what is currently recorded on the passport database, that are to be held on the National Identity Register [2].

Phil Booth, NO2ID’s National Coordinator, said:

The National Identity Scheme has never been about a card — it’s about tracking you throughout your life, linking your details by the numbers.

This admission confirms the Home Office’s intentions for the scheme. It wants to track you through every government and private database it can —and your NI number’s just the start.

-ENDS-

Notes for editors:

1. Written answers and statements, 5 January 2010: http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2010-01-05b.306359.h&s=Chris+Grayling+section%3Awrans+section%3Awms#g306359.q0
2. For a full list of the *FIFTY* categories of information that may be held on the National Identity Register, one has only to read Schedule 1 of the
   Identity Cards Act 2006: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts2006/ukpga_20060015_en_5#sch1
3. NO2ID is the UK-wide non-partisan campaign against ID cards and the database state. See http://www.no2id.net/dbstate for a list of ‘database state’ initiatives that NO2ID is actively opposing, and http://www.no2id.net/datasharing for how it all fits together.