Identity Cards - Page 2

Mik Dickinson · 07-11-2003, 15:39

been living in Germany as you all know for 21 years.The have an ID system over here but as i am non German i have not got one.I am supposed to carry my passport around with me all the time.In 21 years and 3 months i have only been stopped by the police twice.My drivers licence has my pic on it and i have never had to produce any other form of identification.I D cards seem to be a waste of time for me.As you say when people knock on your doór how often do you check up at head office to see if people are who they are?

Guinness · 07-11-2003, 17:20

For all you advocates of introducing an ID card system I suggest you check out

http://www.charter88.org.uk/id_cards/index.html

Concise arguments why ID cards wouldn't work in this country. Also to you people who argue that ID cards help solve crime, again I repeat my previous question.

What problems would an ID card solve  ???

Fangio · 07-11-2003, 18:42

About the only thing it would achieve is to provide more civil servant/ quango jobs - which would probably be as fouled up as the PSA, the Passport Office etc etc.

So why not go for it?  After all, those little cushy number jobs are hard to come by.  Yeas, lets have ID cards and create some more havoc in the country.

Mik Dickinson · 11-11-2003, 21:17

No go for it i would love to see how this is gonna solve crime.Up to now i do not believe a burglar or mugger has left his calling card first

Basher · 13-02-2006, 13:43

I believe our mighty leader (sarc) is returning from his trip in SA to vote - he must be expecting this stage of the bill to be a close run thing

Just my ten penneths worth: I'm quite prepared to have an ID card but they can take a walk if they think I'm forking out hard earned money for the privilege.

pendy · 13-02-2006, 14:21

My passport is in my handbag. My handbag is always with me. ID? - no problem.

cashman · 13-02-2006, 14:33

only point i would make is passports are easier to replicate, an i.d. card has a fingerprint embossed on- much more difficult to forge.

SPUGGIE J · 13-02-2006, 14:42

I am not adverse to the idea but it has to be a system acceptable to al and inexpensive.

Margaret Pilkington · 13-02-2006, 20:41

I do not trust this governments ability to provide the technical computer equipment to read these cards accurately. Suppose you went out of the country on one of these cards and then were not recognised when you wanted to return......would you be left to wander the globe looking for a country to take you in? No, to me it is just another way to squeeze some more money out of us (like we don't contribute enough already)....some crims are bound to be able to forge the cards eventually.....and there is your ID gone.
It won't help stop terrorism either, because the terrorists will not use them.
There won't be enough man power to check them(the ID cards)
Spain has ID cards but they were still the victims of a terror attack in Madrid.

entwisi · 14-02-2006, 03:18

I agree whole heartedly Margaret, Having seen what a unholy mess the Goverment made of the Passport computer system (billions over budget, years late and not to teh original design) or teh mess they are making of the NHS system(seperate areas writing their own systems that are incompatible with each other, again massively over budget). I wouldn't trust them to get it anywhere near secure or workable.

With regards to which is replicable, biometric information is just a series of 1's and 0's, If you can read it from one card you can write it to another. Even encryption is not going to stop you. Todays PCs are powerful enough to break ciphers that the Cold war used in hours, Stick together a beowolf cluster and even 256 bit encryption is within days(to give you an idea, Internet banking uses 128 bit and each extra bit doubles the previous number of possible cominations)

Then it comes down to as Margaret says, If you are happy to blow yourself and countless others up, are you really going to be bothered to carry an ID card?

It isn't some holy grail of a nice secure country, its an expensive cash cow. Unfortunately, though it looks like one we will be paying for for years

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4707608.stm

Ian

Less · 14-02-2006, 10:40

So long as it's free I say they can give me an I.D. card.
It will go with all other important/might be needed documents, into my paperwork drawer,
why? because if they ever stop me it will surely be a cheaper lift home than a taxi!

If stopped, the alternatives would be giving me a piece of paper similar to the one for producing your motoring documents and then letting me go, (And of course a terrorist would turn up wouldn't he), or taking me to the cells until proof could be obtained or acting like a taxi and driving me home!

The amount of police time wasted just because we didn't carry this particular piece of bureaucracy would soon outweigh any so called benefits.

I have managed to exist for over 50 years without carrying such documentation 24/7,
I don't see how changing this situation will improve my life style one jot.

If at any time in the past proof of I.D. was needed I have always willingly sorted something out, (passport, driving licence, etc.).

But I am not prepared to have a document that has me breaking the law just because I don't have it with me.

chav1 · 14-02-2006, 11:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by cashman

only point i would make is passports are easier to replicate, an i.d. card has a fingerprint embossed on- much more difficult to forge.

still the odd terrorist will find a way around the system

Margaret Pilkington · 14-02-2006, 15:59

This government doesn't know what to tell the people......first the ID cards were to help in the fight against terrorists, then it was to ensure that welfare and benefits went to the right people, now they tell us it is to prevent identity theft. When are they going to come clean and admit that it is a means of extracting money from us......and also there is a frighteneing touch of Big Brother about it too. I can see me going to Jail because I will not have an ID card. The government already knows where to find me to extract taxation and any other dues they feel they can get from me.

garinda · 14-02-2006, 16:19

We more or less have them already. How many times are you asked to produce your driving licence or passport as proof of identity, for something unrelated to either driving or going abroad?

I agree that we'll probably have to pay for the privilege of knowing who we are, when the cards are introduced.

pendy · 14-02-2006, 18:12

The old driving licences are virtually useless to prove identity. Mez and I could swap and who would know? - we're both about the same age and both female. I'm all in favour of the new ones with a photograph - at least then six people can't share the same licence (and yes, it has happened - too often). I suppose there could be a problem if a person has neither a passport nor a driving licence, but that is rare these days.

I object on the grounds that it is going to cost me money - I work, have a reasonable salary, but I STILL don't want to pay for something I don't want. Who is going to pay for ID cards for those who don't and won't work? Us, of course. Those who can't work, fine, they shouldn't pay.

I also want to know more about how they will be used (or abused).