Identity Cards

Never mind the confidentiality issues, there are practical ones. MIL declined to renew both her passport and her driving licence when she was in her eighties ("at my age I prefer to be driven" she scrawled across the form she sent back to DVLA Swansea), and found it hard to prove who she was thereafter. One of our leading banks was very put out when she couldn't produce a firearms certificate either.

Is that a purely rhetorical question DJ or are you about to reveal that Tesco, the local garden centre and Father Christmas are privy to my medical history?

The answer to your question, dj, is that medical records are held in various places - GP, dentist, any hospital where you've been treated, etc.

You will also have a Summary Care Record, unless you opted out. The SCR contains basic info such as medicines taken, allergies, etc. If you are admitted to A&E as an emergency, this information can be a lifesaver.

As a matter of interest, what kind of information are people fearful could be included on an ID card?

Do any of you know who has your medical information?

I want mine in Welsh

In Italy I have to carry my passport everywhere for ID, how much easier to have a card tucked in my wallet.

I've had personal experience of identity theft DJ and it won't happen again. I have set up protection. Anyone trying to use or asking about my personal details I am informed who, when and why immediately.

So that's not an issue.

If we get to the situation where government is instructing us to carry around personal information such as religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, political affiliation, etc, I think we should start to be worried not only by the requirement, but what kind of government we have. An ID card with that kind of information would be the symptom of a repressive government and we should vote them out, before things go to far.

You wish.

Most UK citizens are more than responsible. We dont need more control and nanny state.

It is not about now necessarily. It is about the future. Who can say who will get in power and what they will do.

Politics is changing quickly.

Another question is, can the Uk afford ID cards? Everywhere in Germany there is an office where you register or get a renewal card with a modern photo. You are registered at your address and if you move you have to make time and re-register at your new address.
If you have 2 or 3 houses or flats then you have to state which is your main address.
For all that Civil Servants are needed - in every middle to large town or district there is an office building. It is connected to who can vote and where the voting booth will be etc etc.
All this was introduced by the Allies after the war and has been kept on. Then you had to have an ID card or face a fine or unpleasantness etc but nowadays Germany is an easy place to live in as regards surveillance as we have seen by the attack in Berlin.

What about responsibilities to society, vampirequeen?

The British have generally fought for the 'freedom from' rather than the 'freedom to do' - they are two different concepts.

I agree with you, Anya. I can't imagine for one minute that MI5 spooks have any interest in our contribution to GN (or even more 'interesting sites ).

So many of you are prepared to give away this freedom. Freedoms are never removed all at once. They are drained slowly until eventually it is too late.

What else are you willing to give away?
Freedom of speech?
Freedom of movement? (Remember Maggie took that from the miners).
Freedom to congregate?
Freedom of religion?
Freedom from unlawful imprisonment?

You may say that this could never happen but then I'm sure most Germans in the 1930s thought that too.

PS. Anybody with an enhanced DBS certificate already carries around personal information.

Maybe the people on here who live in countries with ID cards could spell out exactly what information they give. My understanding is that it's fairly basic. However, if the police (or anybody else) has any reason for suspicion they have access to other databases.

To be honest, a system which simplifies life by collating verified information such as name, DOB, address, NI and NHS numbers etc seems absolutely fine. I already have it all in a little plastic folder, if anybody's interested (which most most people aren't).

If we get to the situation where government is instructing us to carry around personal information such as religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, political affiliation, etc, I think we should start to be worried not only by the requirement, but what kind of government we have. An ID card with that kind of information would be the symptom of a repressive government and we should vote them out, before things go to far.

However, I really don't think we're at that stage BUT, make no mistake, government already holds all sorts of information about all of us. I can't see that ID cards would make any difference.

I don't think government laptops and flashdrives have that information on. They are much more likely to have your tax details and NI numbers, etc., on them.
The sort of information that people use for identity theft. It says they are encrypted, but encryption can be got round.
People who steal your identity are not interested in the official secrets act.

And if you work in a sensitive occupation then you'll sign the OSA anyway.

What on earth information would we be so worried about? Is MI5 interested in how much cash back I got using contactless? Or perhaps what yoghurt I prefer or what I watch on Amazon Prime?

I can appreciate in theory why people feel that Big Brother might be watching (1984 has a lot to answer for) but, FHS most of us have very little, if anything, we need to 'protect' .

You think your information would be safe?

www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/dec/21/at-least-1000-government-laptops-and-flash-drives-reported-missing-since-2015

As I said in a previous post, in a hypothetical situation where the police needed to know someone's identity and they refused to given any information, they would be arrested and questioned at the police station. The police wouldn't just say 'Oh that's OK, it's one of your freedoms, after all...'

Why would vampirequeen be arrested?

The Berlin market attacker, Anis Amri, has been shot dead by police in Milan.

The Tunisian criminal fired on police who asked him for ID during a routine patrol in the Sesto San Giovanni area in the early hours of Friday.

German authorities say fingerprints they provided have confirmed the dead man is Amri. They are trying to find out if he had accomplices.

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