Identity Cards

So you'd rather be arrested and questioned if it came to it, would you vampirequeen? There are times in everyone's life when they have to prove who they are, it isn't a freedom. ID cards would make it simpler, that's all.

We all have to prove who we are from time to time. If I want to help out at GCs schools I need to be security checked as an example so I need to prove I am who I say I am so they can check I'm not on any register.

That's only fair, isn't it?

Not having to prove who I am is a freedom. I do not wish to give up any of my freedoms. Why should I?

Our freedoms were fought for in the past and we should fight to keep them.

OK, but what role would ID cards play in that?

For those a amongst us still unconcerned about what the authorities in the UK, perhaps this might be of interest:

www.snooperscharter.co.uk/about-the-bill
www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/25/contents/enacted/data.htm

It effectively replaces the RIPA laws from 2000 www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/23/contents , and significant changes have been made to the sections related to "Unlawful interception" and data retention, and of course senior employees of local councils can authorise access to electronic data and equipment.

The latest act, which was given the "Royal Assent" on 29th November also says any of the authorised agencies must create a 'code of practice' - should we assume that this is done, and in place today I wonder.

But how does registering to vote affect the ID card issue?

When a person applies for certain things such as a bank account or to go on to the housing register, the electoral roll is one of the lists which is checked. If somebody could have an ID card with the option of not being on the electoral roll, it would make life simpler.

I think the abusive partner issue might be that women are afraid to register to vote who are living in safe accommodation...so their names then appear on electoral roles. There is a movement to sort this and was a news feature in my city this past autumn.

www.bristolpost.co.uk/bristol-domestic-abuse-survivor-reveals-her-struggle-to-get-women-in-safe-houses-the-vote/story-29698799-detail/story.html

The UK is the only country I can think of off hand where ID cards do not exist.

I would appreciate having an ID card, as here in Germany it is compulsory to carry identity with you at all times (why should I want to hide who I am?) Passports are bulky. ID cards are credit card size and can slip into your purse.

I lived in Brussels and Paris in the '80s and ID cards were compulsory; it saved carrying my passport with me. I have absolutely no objection and would much rather I or a loved one was easily identified if necessary. None of us carry our passports round with us do we?? Not everyone has a photo driving licence (eg my husband). It could contain urgent medical information but definitely not religion; consecutive governments are reluctant to introduce it as it has been unpopular but perhaps there is a sea change now - let's have a referendum and see what the public really want!!

If the police wanted to ascertain your identity for a good reason, if you didn't have any form of ID you may well have to accompany them to the police station while they made enquiries.

A waste of time for everyone concerned.

Put yourself in the place of potential governments. First they persuade us to have an identity card for our own benefit i.e. proof of identity if you don't have a driving license or passport. So it has a photo and name and address on it. Next they say that in order to access the NHS and benefits it would be easier to add your NI number to it and perhaps your blood group in case you are in an accident. More apparently reasonable ideas. Once that's accepted by the general public as it seems to make sense they can start adding bits more. Then they up the terrorist threat and say it would be better if we all carried our cards so that we could produce them on request to a police officer. Next it would be a criminal offence not to carry it or produce it on request. All in the name of anti terrorism. But then wouldn't it make life easier for the police to know a bit more about us if they feel they have grounds to stop us. So they add more and more information to our cards but not all at once. By a gradual drip drip they can require us to carry a card that gives far more personal details. As you can't read a card without a reader who knows what other information they could add to it.

I agree that if they want to a government can find such information about us anyway but they have to have permission from the courts to infringe our privacy.

To those of you who say why should we bother if we have nothing to hide. Well atm I have the freedom to walk down the street without anyone being able to demand to see evidence of my identity. I want to keep that freedom. Our freedoms were hard fought for and we shouldn't give them up for little or no good reason.

In any case, I think you meant the 'population over 16'. NI numbers aren't issued until a person turns 16.

No. they're not 'useless', but they can't be used in isolation.

National Insurance numbers are absolutely useless for the purposes of identification as far more numbers have been issued that the entire population of the UK. Even the Government has admitted this.

I agree absolutely, daphnedill. I really can't see why some seem to be so fearful about the prospect of having to carry an ID card.

I had an identity card when I was a child during the war. Used to carry it around in my gas mask case. Don't really see why we shouldn't have one. I don't drive so I have no licence, I don't have a passport, so I have difficulty proving who I am at times, and usually have to take a heap of various bills as proof that I am who I say I am.

I don't have a passport, although I do have a driving licence, which I use for ID if I need to pick up a parcel from the sorting office or something I've ordered online to be collected from a sorting office, etc. I also have an enhanced DRB. When I was doing supply teaching I had to show the DRB and ID whenever I walked into a school.

There are plenty of people who don't have a passport or a driving licence. Some of them don't have utility bills in their own name. ID cards would make the whole process easier than carrying around a portfolio with bits of paper.

I see no reason at all why data about religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation would need to be collected. People could always lie if it really bothered them anyway. This isn't about collecting data about people, but providing a simple means of identifying people. There's a big difference and I don't have any problem at all with ID cards.

I wouldn't like it to become an offence NOT to carry one, but if it mattered, I would be prepared to show the card at a police station or wherever it was needed.

I'm absolutely 'no', too. for all the reasons already cited on this thread by others.

I don't mind the thought of an ID card really, it's just that we are not used to it (as many people in other European countries are used to it.)We don't like the thought of anyone barking 'papers' at us ( as in old war films) but the reality is that we are already well observed, and do carry all sorts of things, bus pass, driving licence etc so an ID card wouldn't really be an annoyance or infringement.
Sainsbury even know my favourite biscuit is a gingernut.

Absolute no to ID cards

If you introduce ID cards, it soon becomes illegal not to carry one, is this really the way we want to go? Every time it it scanned it would reveal where you are.

But in future generations babies will be microchipped at birth, and that chip will store all their medical records, personal data including religion, sexual preferences, banking data, criminal offences, and tracking facilities. Great for parents when their child has wandered off, but terrifying if you are trying to avoid a stalker or abusive partner. The management of the massive database behind it would be wide open to hacking as millions of people would have access to it, NHS, police, local government, DVLA etc. For access to any service, to shop, to get treatment, you will just walk through a scanner.

Today some of us worry about privacy, but it doesn't bother a younger generation as much. By the time their children and children's children are growing up, every move will be tracked, and no-one will think anything of it. But thankfully I won't be around!

Gaggi3 you see if you're chipped you might have to live on dogs food, your DH will always know where you are, who you're with and when you bought those old shoes you've had for absolutely ages

Sainsbury's knows I don't have a dog, as it never gives me vouchers for dog food, but does for food for my micro-chipped cat. She has recently been muttering about infringement of her feline rights.