The face of Big Brother? ID Cards like this one will soon be compulsory for all...

ID CARDS

Posted by Jon King on May 08, 2009

Tagged with: big brother, cctv, civil liberties, conspiracy, data protection, human rights, id cards, microchip, national database, new world politics

Big Brother, CCTV, the National Database … Now the Government has introduced biometric ID Cards. What’s next…?

ID Cards: A Culture of I Spy

id_cards_cctv True or false: there are more CCTV cameras in the new improved age than there are corrupt politicians?

Answer: too close to call.

Certainly a culture of ‘I Spy’ and ‘databasing’ seems more prevalent today than ever, as most recently evidenced by moves to create a National Database in Britain and Big Brother’s (or at least the UK Goverment’s) introduction of ID cards — your very own uniquely encoded biometric identity tag complete with embedded microchip and digital facial image.

For good measure, your ID card will also contain your date of birth, immigration status and fingerprint, and no doubt your darkest, most deviant thoughts and preferred sexual bias as well.

For the time being, only foreign nationals who wish to work or claim benefits in Britain will be forced to carry an ID card, although of course it was announced this week that from the autumn of 2009 residents of Manchester will be ‘invited’ to sign up to the scheme and apply for their ‘voluntary’ ID Card. It will cost them anywhere from £30 to £60.

But there is worse to come. Perhaps coincidence, perhaps design, who knows … but in the darkly portentous year of 2012 Big Brother will give the sinister nod and the scheme will go nationwide, forcing us all to consider the unsavoury prospect that, not only should we carry an ID Card, but we should pay for the privilege as well.

At least Facebook collects our digital profile for free.

So when will it become compulsory to carry a biometric ID Card? Well thankfully not for the foreseeable future. Or at least not until the next staged ‘terrorist attack’ forces new legislation through Parliament stating that we are all now forbidden to leave home without our computerized recognition tags.

At which point rendition and unspeakable torture will await anyone found wandering the streets without one.

Well, maybe that’s a bit over the top, but probably not too far off the mark.

What do you think? Am I being too leftfield about the whole ID Card issue? Too paranoid? Isn’t there a serious civil liberties issue at stake here?

Let me know what you think…

ID Cards: The Pitfalls

But before you do, consider these few points, outlined by law expert Susan Hall in the Manchester Evening News.

“The main problem is that it is such a huge scheme and government IT projects have a track record of going over budget and having severe problems.

“No database is foolproof. You just have to look at cases where MI5 computers have been left on trains. There is a huge risk because it is so easy to carry large amounts of information on portable media. Fingerprints are not like a pin number—they can’t be changed if the information is leaked.

“There is also a risk that people will misuse or sell the information or that other agencies will misuse it. We’ve already had local authorities going beyond their powers to use surveillance in cases of dog fouling. I think there is great potential for people’s personal data being misused.” (Source Manchester Evening News ).

Over to you. Are you happy to pay for and carry an ID Card with all your personal information on it? What if you lose it? As Susan Hall says, you can change a pin number, but you can’t change a fingerprint or a digital facial image.

And what about the connection between ID Cards and 2012? Manchester may be the first British city to trial the scheme, but in 2012 ID Cards go national. Is this date significant? Will you carry an ID Card in the face of impending doom? Some are predicting the end of the world in 2012, don’t forget. Have we misinterprepted the prophecy? Is it instead the year when Big Brother finally imposes his will and we all fall slave to covert martial law?

What if you are forced to carry an ID Card as part of your conditions of employment? What will you do then? According to the Manchester Evening News article (above), thousands of airside workers at Manchester Airport have been told they must sign up to the scheme and carry an ID Card or they will lose their jobs.

Hasn’t the civil liberties issue suddenly become a full-on human rights issue? Isn’t this 1984 unfolding right before our eyes?

I think it is. I really think it is. And I’m asking you what you intend to do about it…?

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