What is your opinion on ID Cards in the UK?

patwright2005

I have come from a country that used ID cards and they worked very well, not much chance of fraud with those as you had to produce them for every-thing opening accounts of any kind, basically for every-day living you produced the ID card, without producing your ID you weren't able to do any-thing, so yes I think it will be a good idea.

Bad idea on the other hand if every-one has got access to the data base, the only thing with the ID cards was that companies could varifying who you were by the ID no. but they could only see your name, address and contact details, no other details were available to them and we certainly didn't have to produce them in a restaurant only if you paying by cheque, that is a little bit ridiculous idea, they would asked for it in a club or pub if they thought you were under age for liquor but never at any-time did they swipe it in any place not even the banks scanned the ID.

As for paying for the ID cards that is scandalous, why should we pay for them the government should foot the bill not us!! We didn't pay for them in the country where I have just returned from.

It would get rid of all the illegal residents and illegal criminals in this country who come and abuse our welfare system and take our jobs and live of the state either being unemployed which they get the same benefits as the citizens of this country.

amdby

other europeans have them, provided free. this means they can travel throughout europe without passport. as a british national it has just cost me Â£250 (about $400) to buy passports to take my wife and 3 kids to Italy. For that reason alone i would vote for them.

hotclaws

Na,they should just brand numbers on our foreheads!

Mer-Dory - (Queen of Doryland)

I think it's a very bad idea, this is the kind of thing you can expect from the ID cards:

The proposed ID Card will be different from any card you now hold. It
will
be connected to a database called the NIR, (National Identity
Register),
where all of your personal details will be stored. This will include
the
unique number that will be issued to you, your fingerprints, a scan of
the
back of your eye, and your photograph. Your name, address and date of
birth will also obviously be stored there.

(I think it's a good idea if you're a criminal who steals peoples identities, as they will be able to get all of our details in one go, instead of having to collect bits).

jleslie4585

I don't like it at all. It's setting us up for some serious problems, identity theft could be a lot worse. Imagine if someone copied your ID card and then not only purchased things in your name, but committed a crime? Robbed a bank or some such and the computer at the bank logged your card as entering and exiting in time with that dude in a ski mask? On a more local but also more realistic level, how about companies buying your ID information, the shops you buy things from, your credit cards and so on to spam you with mail? The system is too invasive of people's privacy, what if they put your religion into the database? What right does your bank have to know things like that, will it affect a loan decision ,you ruin your chances the moment you swipe the card?

One good thing i can think of is it might hurt underage drinking, but if people aren't asking for driver's licenses you can bet they won't demand an ID card so I doubt it will hit the figures that much.

Lema

We had ID cards years ago and I do not think there was such an outcry about them!

susie101lc

yes

the_other_gal

i dont like them...i think we are not getting the full story

i think they are an invasion of privacy and it worries me that a govt would wish to hold such vast and invasive levels of information

also there is such huge risks of fraud assosciated with such a proposal

to be blunt they worry me

floppity

I am terrified of it, apparently it'll come into place by 2008 and cost anything between Â£50 and Â£200, so it seems like just another way of taking our hard earned cash. But I've wanted to emigrate for years so if they do that we are definately moving! I think it is just so wrong...

Little minx

it is so stupid. it will persecute the law abiders and illegals it will do nothing for! What IS the point!! just more ways to get more money out of us!!

dublo75

NO! They will be "cloned" within a month and then the terrorists and criminals will have ALL our information:
Date of birth, address, medical history, financial details.
I don't want even the government knowing all that especially the government we have now.

Just read the other answers - "all the other European countries have them". WE ARE NOT EUROPEANS WE ARE BRITISH!!

rookethorne

I have carried a full personal ID card in the UK since 1973 and am quite happy with it.

Information on the card is no more than you volunteer to insert, and it also includes specific medical information like blood type, allergies and current medication to name but a few.

I never have to present any other proof of identity when required as it is recognised virtually world wide.

A colleague was recently involved in a motorcycle accident and taken to hospital unconscious, as soon as he arrived they were able to identify him, administer the necessary blood type and inform his next of kin.

One last point, if you are worried about infringement of personal rights - forget it.

The dossier held by the government and its various agencies starts from the point of birth and is added to throughout your lifetime, they know more about you than you do yourself.

By the way Vicky, you dont HAVE to have a driving licence or passport, its your choice, But I ask you this - can you really prove who YOU are? after all you could be someone using an assumed identity in order to instil dissention.

cmdr_j_bond25

Personally, I think it's a great idea. For one, it'll be a definitive form of id, and when you apply for something like a bank account and a credit card there'll be no need to supply multiple forms of ID.

I don't see what the fuss is all about to be honest, the only people who need worry are those involved in criminal activity. Law abiding citizens like myself have nothing to worry about. It does not infringe human rights in any way, shape or form.

Jenny

It's a good idea considering there are so many immigrants (legal and illegal) here that the government has completly lost track of, which they admit to. But it would be very costly and I worry about the added problems of forgery and ID theft.

goodbye and good luck :-)

That topic is an extremely contoversial and difficult subject and in order to properly answer it there would need to be alot of very careful thought given.

In short however, anything that gives alot of people's personal info on a database anywhere as always in danger of being abused, for whatever reason. Therefore unless it was extremely carefully handled i would say a resounding NO!

wont_cook

it would make terrorism very difficult and would virtually stop illegal immigration as you would have to produce it if asked....yeh, I'm for it...lets get printing

you try and get into an Army camp or Air Force base without proper id...not impossible, but it rarely happens, well i would like that kind of security for the whole country, keep out those who have no right to be here, as for visitors...do what the Americans do on the quiet...vet the people BEFORE they fly in.I flew to the US, and at checkin they called me aside, and knew everything about me....and what i had been doing the last 6 months,...now that is scary.

Duke

Yes we have too many illegal immigrates in this country.

iknowthis

I think that in some cases they are a good thing, for example in hospital, if everyone carried an ID card, the doctors would just plug it into a screen on the end of your bed and read your medical history and update it straight onto the database, which would mean less faffing about with records in hospitals, meaning less mistakes.
However I am genuinely worried about the issue, I think that they could be copied and that if they doubled as money cards/credit cards, not only our personal information but also our money would be at risk. I think that we don't have the right technology to manage all of that information yet, and I think that if our identity, essentially all the information about us is found and copied, we are in danger of serious fraud and criminalisation. I wonder what would happen if people were to lose them!

I am also worried about the incursion onto our civil rights and space; is it not the government wanting to know everything about us? Why would we want them? What use would they have? Would our freedom to personal space be comprimised by having to carry them? - I think so.

So having looked at both sides, I can see the up side for medicine and hospitals, and I think that if our medical records could be carried in a small chip in our wallets for example, that only the hospital could open, then that would be a good idea, but I think that an ID card, compulsory or not is a very bad idea, and I think that there is no need for it.

spanglish

I do not have a problem with ID cards. The only people who do have a problem are those who have something to hide.

sarah c

The Nazis loved id cards.
Its stupid to say that the only people who have anything to worry about are criminals. Criminals are the only ones who'll be able to get faked id cards. They'll not be worried. This is just one more step towards criminalising innocent people.
We already have passports and driving licences; how do they stop people commiting crime? The death penalty doesnt stop crime, how will a piece of paper?
Identity thieves will be able to make our lives hell instead of awkward. Credit cards get stolen and misused all the time, you'd think they'd be secure by now, they've been around for long enough.
The govt has a really, really bad track record on this kind of large scale I.T. project. They couldn't manage it with tax records, the social security or housing benefit and it has cost the tax payer billions to put those right.
Now they are saying that to fund I.D. cards they are going to sell the info to companies. It is info about me, I can't see it but someone at a company can?!
Effing Scandalous.

Tefi

Yes, I believe we should. Nothing to hide, why worry? They have them in other European countries.

logicalawyer

In theory it should work, but the fact people talk about civil liberties being infringed, the state already knows and has powers to get your info anyway, so what else you got to hide?

The Uk has no privacy laws as such only under the HRA 1998 that only right to family and private life, only one case i think has even been brought on those grounds. It was Douglas v Hello.

We are only free within the law, get used to it or change it by become a politican because they make the laws, and have to power to repeal laws, or buy your own island somewhere and make your own laws.

bytche_ina_uniform

I don't live in the UK, but dang, I would hate that. Its bad enough hackers are able to get ahold of some personal information, just imagine if they were able to get into one place and get ALL your information. I don't know about the UK, but I would be in an uproar here in the States if that were ever to happen.

listener06y

i sympathise with you but most of all the little ones parents.
it raises the question why one so young should be taken,when there is so much bad in the world.
the unfortunate thing is the longer we live the more people around us die.
i join you in your prayers and i hope the little one did not suffer to much.
i suppose we have to be thankful she is now at oeace and for her the pain is over and i hope those she left behind can find some comfort in that the pain for the little one is at an end.
once again deepest regrets
mike
after reading this on your blogspot which is great by the way,i reall could not care less about id cards.i did try to leave this message on your blog but couldnt,i felt sincerly i had to sympathise,so please dont shout at me
mike

andy c

never!! we are constantly being observed more and more, there are even tags in your shopping that they can track to your home now, big brother is watching you george orwell got it spot on

Ayoade d

the id card is perfectly ok

Travel Bug

I live in the UK and feel that anyone who has nothing to hide should not be bothered by the introduction of these ID Cards, however I do think they should take a DNA sample for everyone being issued one in addition to the finger prints. We already have passports and drivers licences with our ID on them and these are no different. The number of crimes both existing and future ones that may be solved as the result of having a large DNA and finger print database is huge. Crime should drop right down as there will be less chance of getting away with it, even if the culprit hasn't had his DNA etc taken then if a cousin of family member has then there would be a close match to them allowing police to work through the family to find the culprit. Wether we like it or not crime exists so does terrorism. As I say personally I think they are a great idea providing they also take DNA. I have nothing to hide so why would it bother me, I understand what people say about invasion of privacy but why would your privacy be invaded? What privacy are we refering to, we already have cameras monitoring our every move outside our homes, our credit cards allow people to use our bank accounts to trace our movements, what real difference would having ID cards make?

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