The case against ID cards

Katie59

Coco51

I think you will find that the government, if it so wishes, can track you anyway.

They can certainly track your mobile phone but I don’t think many on Gransnet are of interest to Special Branch.

that isn't even true though, some people might be

volver

JaneJudge

This thread has made me realise I don't want an ID card

Can I ask why JaneJudge?

because I feel like I am monitored enough. I hadn't really thought about it before this thread but since the pandemic I am using cards to pay for things instead of cash, so the bank has been monitoring me too and it's a good job they have as someone cloned my card and luckily they intercepted it but the bank know where I am, where I am spending money, whether I have driven 200 miles to se my Mum, whether I've booked to go away, had new clothes...

I am just using the bank as an example

My earlier post regarding google is sort of the same. Not that I will murder someone but it is clear we are being monitored and profiled and I find it a bit disturbing

I most probably sound a bit woo now

Coco51

I think you will find that the government, if it so wishes, can track you anyway.

They can certainly track your mobile phone but I don’t think many on Gransnet are of interest to Special Branch.

JaneJudge

This thread has made me realise I don't want an ID card

Can I ask why JaneJudge?

Would it bother you if I was?

What's that got to do with ID cards?

Never wanted one. I'd never carry one.

Volver,
Are you the sort of person who always has to have the last word? Asking for a friend

This thread has made me realise I don't want an ID card

Is this what's known as a pile-on?

Asking for a friend. 😊

volver

growstuff

volver You could also throw away your birth certificate and utility bills along with your driving licence, but you'd find it quite difficult to prove your ID, if you applied for a job, wanted to open a bank account or apply for benefits or wanted to rent a property. A single ID card could make it easier to do those things without having to send off a pack of ID documents.

I agree that I'd want to know what its purpose would be and I'd want the government to be accountable for future uses, but not having an ID card doesn't deter the government from introducing draconian laws anyway.

But having an ID card would make it easier for them.

I don't agree with handing over my ability to have the kind of identity document I feel happy with just to make my life a bit easier when I have to open a bank account.

It seems to me we have lost all sense of proportion here.

Is it possible that you might have lost all sense of proportion here?

Or, you think that making fun of a person who cares about human rights in the UK, is jolly good sport.

I’ve not made fun of anybody ,
do you mean people who don’t want ID cards even though it would help other people?

not very attractive thinking.

Sweden started it I think. It's used all over now.

I'd have one.

Because contrary to public opinion I'm not paranoid about having my data online.

volver there is a man in one of the scandi countries who has had a chip implanted in his hand it’s how he pays for things.

It was on the morning news a few weeks ago.

To all those people saying "if you have nothing to hide..." , one of the following is true:

Either you haven't bothered reading the posts that explain why this is such a terrible thing to say, and you are the kind of person who thinks anybody who is not happy to be subjected to a government attempt to control the population must be some kind of bad guy.

Or, you think that making fun of a person who cares about human rights in the UK, is jolly good sport.

Either way....not very attractive thinking.

BTW I don't subscribe to the microchipping paranoia. Now, there's a conspiracy theory 🙄

I think you will find that the government, if it so wishes, can track you anyway.

I'm not in favour of mandatory ID cards but if people want one if they have no other means of identification then they should be able to request one.
I feel that there is far too much of my privacy eroded already without adding something else.

I totally agree, we are moving into a very dystopian world akin to 1984. They actually want the chip in YOU, no need for a card. Resist!!

When living in Spain I had an ID card complete with finger prints and phot ......as I did in France. I see no probem with this unless you have something to hide !!!! the only problem I DO see is people faking them ............in my opinion they would be an EXCELLENT idea to identify anyone who is not entitled to be in the UK, and receive health care, etc etc for nothing !

Volver, I am opposed to you going off grid lol

My problem would be remembering to make sure I had the blooming thing with me, would end up with it in the wrong coat pocket!!!!!

Stop being so rude.

During the war everyone carried an ID. I was born in 1945 and my baby ID number was ARCJ19. In 1948 at the birth of the NHS it was used as my NHS number and only changed in 1996. We all have them. We also have passports, birth certificates, bank cards, bus passes, library cards, car registration numbers. If anyone wants to check you out they can, it might take a bit more effort, but somewhere you have a number against your name. Stop being so precious.

When my mum was walking to the hospital in labour ( I am talking over ten decades ago), my dad and mum were stopped by two policemen as there had been a spate of burglaries in that area and they thought she was hiding something under her coat. More recently my son and a couple of his friends had been to a concert and wandered down some streets thinking it was a shortcut to the station. A police car stopped and asked them what they were doing there and gave them a lift to the station saying the area wasn't very safe. If you've ever watched things like Murder Caught on CCTV etc you will know we can be traced by camera and phone signals quite easily when they need to be. With the right controls over who has access to what I don't think I'd be totally against them. Only way to totally avoid being traced is to go off grid.

I’d carry one.

I am not bothered by ID cards at all and would happily carry one if required. If stopped by a police officer (unlikely scenario) I would show it. It wouldn't tell them what I was "up to," of course, just prove who I was. I object to insisting on photo idea in order to vote because it disadvantages those who are already disadvantaged enough. But an ID card would level the playing field. It should be free, of course!