Identity Cards: Why You Should Be Afraid


Why all citizens who care about freedom, justice, privacy and independence must oppose identity cards.


New Labour claims that forcing British citizens to carry identity cards will help combat terrorism. This is a lie. British leaders are either very stupid or very dishonest. (They could, I suppose, be both.)

Identity cards offer no security against terrorism. But they will remove our last scrap of freedom. Their introduction will take us further down the line towards a police state. We must oppose their introduction vigorously.

The New Labour Government (the most fascist Government Britain has ever had) has taken advantage of the so-called `terrorist threat' to announce its intention to introduce compulsory identity cards.

(I call the threat `so-called' because there have been fewer terrorist attacks in Britain since 11/9 than there were in the years immediately preceding the attack on America. This fall in the number of terrorist incidents in Britain could well be due to the fact that the Americans are now very slightly less enthusiastic about supporting the IRA than they were before 11/9.)

The irony here is that even the Americans themselves have rejected the idea of introducing identity cards. They (unlike New Labour) are presumably aware that countries which have introduced ID cards have seen no increase in security or reduction in terrorist attacks.

The USA Congress inserted the following line in the bill which created the now much depised Department of Homeland Security in the USA: `Nothing in this act should be construed to authorise the development of a national identification system or card.'

The New Labour Government frequently claims that we should accept identity cards because the French have them. They do not bother to explain why the fact that the French has identity cards has anything to do with their suitability for Britain.

There are flaws in this particular argument.

The first flaw is that the identity cards the French use are quite simple, more like the flimsy bits of cardboard that the Nazis were so fond of, than the high-tech credit card style devices that New Labour plans to introduce.

It is quite wrong to suggest that the cards the French use compare in any way with the cards Britons will have to use.

The identity cards being introduced by New Labour will use iris recognition technology to identify the holder. Plus fingerprints. The French ID cards do not contain fingerprints or eye scans.

The New Labour ID cards will contain a microchip with every bit of information about you that the authorities can find. Your medical history, dental records, police record, banking records, address, telephone number, tax records, age, credit card details and, of course, a personal number similar in style to the one the Nazis used to tattoo on people. (New Labour has already proposed giving every newborn British child an identity number.)

The French ID cards do not include any electronic records, they are valid for ten years and only 51% of the population have them. French identity cards can be used to support claims for state benefits, banking transactions and (in place of a passport) for travel around Europe. They are, indeed, a sort of poor man's passport - perfectly acceptable for people who just want to travel on the European mainland.

New Labour's identity cards (also known as smart cards) will ultimately replace credit, debit and cash cards, keys, passport, driving licence, national insurance cards, medical records, tax records and even cash.

In the Brave New World envisaged by New Labour, we will carry nothing with us but our New Labour smart cards. Administration and control will be simple and effective. Mr Blunkett and his lieutenants will know where you are, what you earn, what you spend, what you wear, where you sleep (and whom you sleep with).

The second flaw in the New Labour argument is that identity cards are voluntary in France (as they are in most of the European countries which have them).

British ID cards, the ones New Labour is introducing, will be compulsory.

(Just how compulsory is subject to debate but it seems that they will probably be compulsory if you want to drive a car, consult a doctor, get a job, claim any benefits or pension, use the NHS or, in the end, walk about the streets without being gathered up and thrown into jail.

One plan (popular among Ministers on even days of the week) is that British citizens will have to produce their ID cards on demand, which means, as it suggests, that we will all have to carry an ID card at all times.

Another plan (currently popular among Ministers on odd days of the week) is that failure to carry a card won't be an offence but that the police will be able to order people to turn up at a police station and present their card for examination within five days.

(No one seems to have pointed out to anyone in the Government that someone who does not have an ID card is unlikely to take the trouble to report to a police station to confess that he doesn't have one.)

The Government has not yet explained the difference between their planned ID card system and a good old fashioned police state.

It seems only a matter of time before some bright young Minister at the Home Office points out that tattoos on the forearm would be cheaper, easier and more reliable than ID cards. Better still, he will doubtless suggest that we could all have little chips inserted under our skin. They will `sell' this to us on the basis that it will mean that if we ever get lost the authorities will be able to find us very quickly. They will also point out that since we won't be able to lose our tattoos or our `chips' we won't have to face the cost and inconvenience of obtaining replacements. I have no doubt that millions of citizens will accept these arguments and eagerly queue up to be tattooed or to accept their implants.

There is a third, rather less significant, difference between the French ID card and the identity card which New Labour plans to introduce.

French ID cards are issued free but Britons will have to pay a minimum of £25 to prove that they are living in a police state.

The overall cost to taxpayers for setting up the system is forecast to be between £3 billion and £30 billion. On past record, this probably means that the final bill will be at least ten times as much as the highest of these two figures with 50% added on for additional unforeseen costs.

The real problem with the New Labour ID cards is that no one has yet explained why we need them and how we will all benefit.

The Government claims that their new ID cards (complete with fingerprints and iris recognition capability) will stop terrorism, money laundering, asylum seekers and identity fraud. If they really believe this then they are even more stupid than most people already suppose them to be. I suspect that the Government is, as usual, simply lying through its collective teeth.

The truth is that ID cards will make life easier - not harder - for terrorists, money launderers, asylum seekers and identity fraud cheats. ID cards will cost a fortune (much of which will be raised by forcing citizens to buy their card) but will be just as pointless as the old fashioned bits of creased cardboard which the French use (and far less intrusive).

By giving the authorities a false sense of security the New Labour ID cards will make serious fraud, terrorism and money laundering much easier - not harder.

The big flaw in the whole argument is, of course, the fact that in order to obtain an ID card you must first prove your identity.

How do you do that? Well, naturally, you must use your passport or your birth certificate - the very items which are so easy to forge or to obtain illegally.

The Government's ID cards will merely legitimise fraudulent papers.

Those wanting to pretend to be someone other than they are must be cheering enthusiastically at the prospect of Britain forcing its citizens to carry and use ID cards.

***

I have a host of fears about ID cards. Obviously, the threat to civil liberties and human rights is paramount.

But does anyone out there know if iris scans are safe? Has anyone checked? Will repeated iris scans be safe - particularly when performed by the sort of incompetent, poorly trained half witted thugs now employed to police borders and search for nail files? Not as far as I know they haven't.

What possible long term damage could eye scanners do? How many people will be blinded before they discover the dangers? Even if the equipment is safe, what risks will be there when it is faulty (which it often will be) or ill maintained (which it often will be)?

Frequent travellers will have their irises scanned a lot. What risks will they run? Remember doctors once thought X-rays and cigarettes were perfectly safe. I can remember when they said Mad Cow Disease wouldn't affect humans and when they insisted that benzodiazepine tranquillisers couldn't possibly be addictive. What's the potential for error?

(My advice, if you are told you have to have an eyescan, is to insist that the person doing the scan sign a form accepting full legal responsibility for any damage which might be done to your eyes. If they refuse to do this make a written note yourself of the date when the scan was performed, the place and the name of the operator.)

Put the risks aside for a moment and we are still left with the fact that iris scans are really of very questionable value. Does the Government know that iris scans can be duplicated and forged? How will they stop crooks switching the iris scan on your ID card and enabling a terrorist or identity thief to take over your life completely? Will the Government sell advertising on ID cards? Will they sell all the information on ID cards to commercial companies? What happens if someone steals your ID card? What happens if you just lose your ID card?

The bottom line is that New Labour really wants to protect British citizens against terrorism they should stop supporting America's commercially inspired foreign policy, stop supporting Israel's aggressive and illegal policies in the Middle East and stop sending British soldiers to start wars against countries which are no threat to Britain. All these actions have made Britons targets for terrorists.

ID cards have nothing whatosever to do with terrorism or money laundering. But they have a great deal to do with state control and fascism.

We must oppose them.

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Copyright Vernon Coleman 2004

Taken from Why Everything Is Going To Get Worse Before It Gets Better (And What You Can Do About It) by Vernon Coleman

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