id cards

[laurence2]

It has been stated that the goverment would like to make the I.D.CARD. compulsory by 2011.

With the cost of these cards going to be approx �100, How do the goverment intend to extract payment from people with no financial funds, are children's cards the same price etc.

Finally. Will it make Britain a safer place to live in, And how are we to be convinced that the World's criminal element in 6 years time WILL NOT have the technology to forged I.D.CARDS.

Apologies that this subject has been raised before, But now the goverment won yesterdays Vote, has anyone views somewhat changed for the Good/Bad of these I.D.CARDS.

[Zen]

Looking at the Governments track record on anything to do with computers,I don't think they will have the technology in 6 years !!!
There will be an enormous cost over run,loads of technical problems and no doubt lots of legal challenges to various aspects of the whole business.
Apparently you will have to have a new card at your own cost should you change your address,no doubt there will be an exemption from this part if you a a member of the travelling fraternity,so when I fill my form in I will put "no fixed abode"

[madein1978]

As far as I'm concerned, they can stuff it, I can't afford �100 for nothing! This is not Nazi Germany and I for one will not be getting one, they can sling me in jail! This is all because we don't know who should be here and who shouldn't. As for the tech issue, there is always a smart alec somewhere that can hack into a computer program no matter how sophisticated it is, because all of that biometric data and iris recognition is still computer code at the end of the day. I don't think it will make Britain safer, because all of this data will be held on a mainframe. mainframes can be hacked as well, thus enabling anyone potentially to access your file and steal your identity, it just plain sucks!

[stevie_c2it]

As David Davis (Shadow Home Secretary) pointed out, the true cost of ID Cards has yet to be seen. Academics at the London School of Economics investigating the logistics estimated that the real costs of a national identity card scheme would be as much as �19 billion � three times the government�s initial estimate. Money that could fund �real� initiatives, like strengthening our border crossings, additional police and other counter terrorist resources.
The record on delivery is not good either, Since 2001, four government agencies, including the Passport Agency, have seen projects with a total budget of �8.9 million record spectacular failures, racking up a combined overspend of �33.9 billion.
Even simple databases have proved beyond the ability of the Home Office to deliver, such as the firearms register which they were asked to set up 8 years ago, and which is still not operational.
Lets not forget (for those who were around at the time) that credit cards were sold to the British public as the way to end fraud by doing away with cash, and having fool-proof secure financial ID. Didn�t work out that way in practice, I live in hope that one day a UK Government will actually learn lessons from past mistakes, but I�m not holding my breath.

[Bluemukka]

The government can't organise an efficent Tax Credits system or CSA system so I'm wondering what makes them think they can undertake something as huge as ID cards? The "criminal element" have probably already got the technology NOW, never mind in 6 years time lol

[Lonnie]

In principle, I have no objection to these I.D. cards, after all, we carry I.D. all the time, but if they are going to impose them, then there should be no charge, i'm not sure legally, that they can charge us for them, I mean, what are they going to do about children, charge the parents for the, and again, and again, as they grow up, also, if you have, eg, a mousetache, and you shave it off, will you have to get another, at cost?.

[sp1814]

Weirdly, whilst I feel I should in principle be against them...I'm not.

However, I'm against the principle of us being charged for them. If you want to travel abroad, drive a car, watch the BBC etc - there are charges you have to pay. That's your choice...but the ID card charge is a charge that we have to pay...to live.

And that's what I find wrong.

And I work in IT and have read far too many industry stories about public sector IT initiatives which have imploded to feel any confidence in this scheme.

[bazwillrun]

The idea is that you get a passport and at the same time you have to get an ID card, what if you cant afford the cost of the ID card, a passport is expensive enough. No ID card no passport !. Every think tank outside of Phoney Blairs govt. has stated that it will not make us any safer or secure and is not necessary. Its all part of Blairs Totalitarian dream for us. What about the unemployed the old etc etc.how will they afford it ? When they become compulsory what will happen to all the illegal immigrants that will be stopped, will they be deported on the next plane ? dont think so.

Heres my advice Tony, take your card and shove it up sideways.

Big Brother Totalitarian Govt. thats what its all about.

This current Labour govt has infringed and taken away more civil liberties and with the help of the EU has criminalised more people than any other British govt in history and it has no intention of stopping with ID cards. Just wait until you see how the new Gallileo sat system will be used a few years down the line, GPS !!? yeah right, if only. ID cards will mean the criminal fraternity will now only have to forge one document instead of several, how much easier could it be made for them

[jamesy boy]

1. The July 7th bombers were British citizens. ID cards would not have stopped them.

2.Spain has ID cards. This didn't stop the Madrid bombing.

3.For over 30 years the IRA (etc) were(?) active on the British mainland. The idea of ID cards wasn't brought up then.Why now?

4. I'll be in the next cell to you, madein1978!

[Greedyfly]

Im pretty sure I have heard and read that the cards will be �30 the �100 one is if you apply for a passport with it.

[noxlumos]

I was under the impression that the prototype's security on these cards had already been compromised. I read somewhere that it had taken a Dutch team less than 2 hours to crack the security features and alter the information on one of their prototype cards so that's just great.

[El D]

Quite fantastically amazing that it has slipped through the commons. Once again I find myself relying on the dinosaurs in the house of lords to protect the freedoms that should be the mainstay concern of the commons. Why do people accept the govt has a right to know everything about us? As far as I'm concerned, if I pay my taxes, commit no crime, the govt should know where I live, where I work, when I was born, how much I earn, how much tax I pay, and when I die. As an institution set up to serve the public, rather than control them, I fear it has grossly overstepped its bounds in recent legislation. I find myself becoming quite anarchic when I consider it.

[twiglet321]

Has anybody ever seen the series Dark Angel? The kids had barcodes on the back of their necks so they could be scanned. That days not far off.