Freedom reductions thru ID cards

Thu Apr 13 03:52:39 PDT 2006

Might contain some new news and be of interest regarding the
continued debate in UK ID cards...Dave keep up the excellent work...John

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Apologies if you've received this already, but as you'll agree it
makes alarming reading.  Something to write to your MP about.

This was written originally by Francis Stonor Saunders. Frances
Stonor Saunders is the former arts editor of The New Statesman,
author of The Cultural Cold War, Diabolical Englishman and The
Devil's Broker and was awarded the Royal Historical Society's William
Gladstone Memorial Prize. She lives in London.

"You may have heard that legislation creating compulsory ID Cards
passed a crucial stage in the House of Commons. You may feel that ID
cards are not something to worry about, since we already have Photo
ID for our Passport and Driving License and an ID Card will be no
different to that. What you have not been told is the full scope of
this proposed ID Card, and what it will mean to you personally.

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. There will be spaces on this database for your religion,
residence status, and many other private and personal facts about
you. There is unlimited space for every other details of your life on
the NIR database, which can be expanded by the Government with or
without further Acts of Parliament.

By itself, you might think that this register is harmless, but you
would be wrong to come to this conclusion. This new card will be used
to check your identity against your entry in the register in real
time, whenever you present it to 'prove who you are'.

Every place that sells alcohol or cigarettes, every post office,
every pharmacy, and every Bank will have an NIR Card Terminal, (very
much like the Chip and Pin Readers that are everywhere now) into
which your card can be 'swiped' to check your identity. Each time
this happens, a record is made at the NIR of the time and place that
the Card was presented. This means for example, that there will be a
government record of every time you withdraw more than #99 at your
branch of NatWest, who now demand ID for these transactions. Every
time you have to prove that you are over 18, your card will be
swiped, and a record made at the NIR. Restaurants and off licenses
will demand that your card is swiped so that each receipt shows that
they sold alcohol to someone over 18, and that this was proved by the
access to the NIR, indemnifying them from prosecution. Private
businesses are going to be given access to the NIR Database. If you
want to apply for a job, you will have to present your card fora
swipe. If you want to apply for a London Underground Oyster Card, or
a supermarket loyalty card, or a driving license you will have to
present your ID Card for a swipe. The same goes for getting a
telephone line or a mobile phone or an internet account.

Oyster, DVLA, BT and Nectar (for example) all run very detailed
databases of their own. They will be allowed access to the NIR, just
as every other business will be. This means that each of these
entities will be able to store your unique number in their database,
and place all your travel, phone records, driving activities and
detailed shopping habits under your unique NIR number. These
databases, which can easily fit on a storage device the size of your
hand, will be sold to third parties either legally or illegally. It
will then be possible for a non-governmental entity to create a
detailed dossier of all your activities. Certainly, the government
will have clandestine access to all of them, meaning that they will
have a complete record of all your movements, from how much and when
you withdraw from your bank account to what medications you are
taking, down to the level of what sort of bread you eat - all
accessible via a single unique number in a central database.

This is quite a significant leap from a simple ID Card that shows
your name and face. Most people do not know that this is the true
character and scope of the proposed ID Card. Whenever the details of
how it will work are explained to them, they quickly change from
being ambivalent towards it. The Government is going to COMPEL you to
enter your details into the NIR and to carry this card. If you and
your children want to obtain or renew your passports, you will be
forced to have your fingerprints taken and your eyes scanned for the
NIR, and an ID Card will be issued to you whether you want one or
not. If you refuse to be fingerprinted and eye scanned, you will not
be able to get a passport. Your ID Card will, just like your
passport, not be your property. The Home Secretary will have the
right to revoke or suspend your ID at any time, meaning that you will
not be able to withdraw money from your Bank Account, for example, or
do anything that requires you to present your government issued ID Card.

The arguments that have been put forwarded in favour of ID Cards can
be easily disproved. ID Cards WILL NOT stop terrorists; every
Spaniard has a compulsory ID Card as did the Madrid Bombers. ID Cards
will not 'eliminate benefit fraud', which in comparison, is small
compared to the astronomical cost of this proposal, which will be
measured in billions according to the LSE (London School of
Economics). This scheme exists solely to exert total surveillance and
control over the ordinary free British Citizen, and it will line the
pockets of the companies that will create the computer systems at the
expense of your freedom, privacy and money.

If you did not know the full scope of the proposed ID Card Scheme
before and you are as unsettled as I am at what it really means to
you, to this country and its way of life, I urge you to email or
photocopy this and give it to your friends and colleagues and
everyone else you think should know and who cares. The Bill has
proceeded to this stage due to the lack of accurate and complete
information on this proposal being made public. Together & hand in
hand, we can inform the entire nation if everyone who receives this
passes it on."

John Caswell   G R O U P    P A R T N E R S

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