ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the areas of discourse structured around the four reference points set out previously: government, Information Commissioner's Office, opposition to identity cards and financial and banking discourses. Three main points of focus emerge from the analysis of government discourse. Firstly the representation of the proposed identity cards, secondly activities the government actually terms surveillance, and thirdly the criminal activity of identity theft, a surveillance activity of sorts, but one conducted by illegitimate actors. The chapter examines the representation and evaluation of surveillance practices, including data protection principles, debates over national identity cards, and the phenomena of identity theft. Four main criteria for the normative evaluation of surveillant social practices can be identified in ICO discourse; necessity, legitimacy, appropriateness and consent. The Information Commissioner's Office is the UK's independent authority set up to uphold information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals.
