The case against ID cards

You need ID cards to get into Costco, the country clubs here, planes, ships, doctors’ surgeries, dentists.It is compulsory to carry a driver’s licence if you are driving. It would be nice to have the same one for everything.I would like more space in my wallet.

Yes of course.

Let's give up all our freedoms so that nanna8 has more space in her wallet.

🤦🏼‍♀️

volver

Yes of course.

Let's give up all our freedoms so that nanna8 has more space in her wallet.

🤦🏼‍♀️

nanna8 is not in the U.K.

volver I understand you are passionate about this but is it really necessary for you to make sarcastic remarks - it does nothing to advance your point of view

I've read this thread carefully and still don't see why having an ID card means giving up our freedom. I've always been in favour of them and would happily carry one.

Oldwoman70

volver I understand you are passionate about this but is it really necessary for you to make sarcastic remarks - it does nothing to advance your point of view

I have tried explaining it in a straightforward manner. I have tried explaining that ID cards are not the same as library cards or bus passes. I have tried explaining that having a centralised system that identifies us all, that is compulsory and can be used by governments to achieve whatever they want, is not acceptable to me.

But still people say "I can't see the problem, it would be good, and if you have nothing to hide...."

There's only sarcasm left. 😟

oldwoman is right though, V. I know cos I've made the same mistake with sarcasm myself.

Have a hey ho moment instead ☕️🙂

volver

Oldwoman70

volver I understand you are passionate about this but is it really necessary for you to make sarcastic remarks - it does nothing to advance your point of view

I have tried explaining it in a straightforward manner. I have tried explaining that ID cards are not the same as library cards or bus passes. I have tried explaining that having a centralised system that identifies us all, that is compulsory and can be used by governments to achieve whatever they want, is not acceptable to me.

But still people say "I can't see the problem, it would be good, and if you have nothing to hide...."

There's only sarcasm left. 😟

I and I imagine the rest of the posters are all well aware that an ID card is not the same as a Bus Pass or a Library Card volver

Many posters including myself have posted that a Government with nefarious intentions does not need the populace to carry ID cards. It can carry out its intentions regardless, all it needs is collusion with others, Judiciary, Police, Civil Servants and a compliant populace.

It does get rather tedious when you consistently tell us we are uniformed …

I'm careful about what I google these days in case I am arrested for a murder I didn't commit

I and I imagine the rest of the posters are all well aware that an ID card is not the same as a Bus Pass or a Library Card volver

Both those things have been used on this thread as examples of identity cards people carry with them. Maybe not everybody is as informed as you are GG13.

Baggs

oldwoman is right though, V. I know cos I've made the same mistake with sarcasm myself.

Have a hey ho moment instead ☕️🙂

Good advice.

Oldwoman70

volver I understand you are passionate about this but is it really necessary for you to make sarcastic remarks - it does nothing to advance your point of view

There's more chance of asking a fish not to swim.
Good luck anyway.

Having lived in France for 17 years I have no problems with carrying an identity card (I have never heard any French friends object either).
We always used to carry copies of our passports, but now have residence cards which are very similar to French ID cards.
After the trauma and uncertainties of Brexit, I was delighted to get it.
I have mostly used it to prove identity for financial transactions and getting in and out of the country without a stamp on my passport. I have never been stopped in the street, but was asked to show it last week because the health authority insists on using my maiden name and my identity card has both names.
It is a useful document, that is all.

volver

^I and I imagine the rest of the posters are all well aware that an ID card is not the same as a Bus Pass or a Library Card volver^

Both those things have been used on this thread as examples of identity cards people carry with them. Maybe not everybody is as informed as you are GG13.

They have been used as an example of proving who you are to use a facility, nobody has said they are ID cards as in all encompassing.

I would be interested to why you think an ID card would be dangerous ?

I think it would be a Government with maverick intentions that would be the danger, not a piece of plastic.

Obviously it’s easy to say “you don’t know what you’re talking about” when others disagree with you. Maybe if you lived in a democratic country with ID cards you’d find it didn’t make any difference to your freedom to go about your daily activities. We’ve got a right wing government here trying to take away freedoms to protest, go on strike, claim asylum etc yet no talk of ID cards. I can imagine that would be seen as unBritish and somehow an example of the nanny state by Tory supporters, who nevertheless vote to curb important actual freedoms.

Dont say we didn’t warn you

volver this is a theoretical discussion. Despite the fact that a number of posters have said that they’d be okay with ID cards, we are not going to have them. Some of us would quite like them for a variety of reasons, but you have no need to warn us about anything, because it’s simply not going to happen, at least not in my lifetime.

It is interesting really. To me, my French residence / ID card (which included fingerprinting) is extremely reassuring. It proves to everyone that I have the right to live here. My UK passport does that in the UK, but obviously not everyone has one.
It is very difficult to live "under the radar" here. I guess it is a matter of personal opinion whether that is a good or bad thing.

vegansrock

Obviously it’s easy to say “you don’t know what you’re talking about” when others disagree with you. Maybe if you lived in a democratic country with ID cards you’d find it didn’t make any difference to your freedom to go about your daily activities. We’ve got a right wing government here trying to take away freedoms to protest, go on strike, claim asylum etc yet no talk of ID cards. I can imagine that would be seen as unBritish and somehow an example of the nanny state by Tory supporters, who nevertheless vote to curb important actual freedoms.

I lived in France.

Maybe if you didn't make assumptions about what motivates people we'd all get along better.

It would certainly put an end to all those threads complaining about foreigners using the NHS.

Chacun a son gout.

Genuine question volver, did it worry you when you lived in France?

Yes.

But I was in somebody else country and that was my choice.

Can you say what it was that worried you Volver? Was it the principle of carrying ID or actual incidents that happened? I am not trying to be argumentative, just genuinely interested. Maybe having experienced the horrible uncertainty of Brexit taking away my right to live here has affected my view (though I have never been against ID cards).

This is a lengthy thread and I admit to not having read all of it. I’m happy to use my passport or driving licence as I D when required but I do know people who don’t have these. For example a 95 year old lady who neither drives or travels abroad and a young woman suffering with anxiety who is too frightened to drive or travel. These people need something to prove their ID so we may as well all have it.

halfpint1

I have one to live in France. Been here over 30 years and I've never yet been asked by a Gendarme to produce it, it lives in a drawer in the house. I use my driving licence if needed at la poste. Not a problem as far as I'm concerned

Same here. You are obliged here in Germany to carry identification at all times, and since I took German nationality I've had an ID card - much more compact than having to cart my passport around with me all the time.

I haven't had to show it to anyone who is not an official.

I don't know what the fuss is about.