I

Scheme (qv). 2 The Act: ● Establishes the National Identity Register. ● Provides powers to issue identity cards. ● Ensures checks can be made against other databases to confirm an applicant’s identity and guard against fraud. ● Sets out what information would be held and what safeguards would be in place. ● Enables public and private sector organisations to verify a person’s identity by checking against the National Identity Register, with that person’s consent, to validate their identity before providing services. ● Includes enabling powers so that in the future access to specified public services could be linked to the production of a valid identity card. ● Provides for it to become compulsory to register and be issued with a card, including penalties against failure to register. 3 Many people seem to believe that the proposed ID cards are simple plastic identifiers which will make little difference to their everyday freedoms. They are wrong. Every adult citizen of the UK (but not foreigners who have been in Britain for less than six months, thus giving would-be terrorists an opening wider than a barn door) (the Observer’s columnist Mr Henry Porter) will be required by law to give the state 49 pieces of information about themselves, including fingerprints and a facial image, for their compulsory ID card. Further, every citizen (read this sentence slowly) will be obliged to inform the authorities each time he or she changes their address, or be fined up to £1 000 per offence. 4 For a comment by Dr Ian Angell, Professor of Information Systems at the London School of Economics, refer to ID CARDS ARE THE ULTIMATE IDENTITY THEFT. COMPUTER SYSTEMS ALWAYS FAIL – AND THE NATIONAL DATABASE WILL DO SO BIG TIME – see the bibliography. 5 As of 2008, useful webites include: ● Directgov www.direct.gov.uk/ ● Information Commissioner’s Office www.ico.gov.uk/ ● Liberty www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/ ● National Identity Scheme www.identitycards.gov.uk/scheme.asp ● No2ID www.no2id.net/ ● Office of Public Sector Information www.opsi.gov.uk/acts.htm

See also: Constitution; Civil liberties; IT systems ; and Post-democracy .