Id Cards To 'safeguard Liberties'

[TriWooOx]

Quote:ID cards could "help safeguard civil liberties," says the man in charge of introducing them.

The chief executive of the Identity and Passport Service, James Hall, said in a Downing St web chat that there would be "tight controls" to prevent abuse.

Critics have said the cards, due to be introduced in 2009 and made compulsory in 2010, will breach privacy.

But Mr Hall said the cards were likely to "reduce the number of times you have to reveal personal information".

The card will contain basic identification information including the name, address, gender, date of birth and photo of the cardholder.

Biometric details

A microchip would also hold biometric information - a person's fingerprints or iris or facial scans, which are unique to the individual.

Mr Hall said: " I don't think that ID cards will threaten personal privacy.

"Rather the reverse; they will likely reduce the number of times you have to reveal personal information and increase the security of your personal data. "Maybe we should start arguing the case that ID Cards will reduce the threat of the surveillance society and help safeguard civil liberties," he added, during the 70-minute moderated web chat.

Prime Minister Tony Blair has said the cards are key to tackling illegal immigration, terrorism and identity fraud, while also protecting the vulnerable.

But Mr Hall said one of his "frustrations was the common assumption that the National Identity Scheme is only about terrorism".

'High security'

"As I have said earlier it is about providing you with a secure means of proving your identity.

"But we do know that terrorists use multiple identities to avoid detection and anything we can do to make this more difficult must help".

Asked how he could ensure that information would not fall into the hands of terrorists or criminals, he said it would be "security accredited to the highest standard."

Budget concerns

And he dismissed accusations that ministers were forcing through ID cards in the face of huge public opposition.

He said the government was elected with the ID cards as a manifesto commitment, Parliament voted for it, and the civil servants had to implement it.

"That's what I and my team are committed to doing. Oh, and by the way the evidence is that the general public supports the scheme and are frustrated that it is taking so long," he added.

Mr Hall said introducing ID cards was a huge challenge but dismissed fears it would run over budget, or suffer IT failure.

"The track record [of government IT systems] is nothing like as bad as you might conclude from the press. Much of government runs on large systems every day without incident; you only hear about the problems."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6147806.stm

[Rosebery]

Quote:ID cards could "help safeguard civil liberties," says the man in charge of introducing them.

:yuck:Bollocks!

....... snip........

Quote:But Mr Hall said the cards were likely to "reduce the number of times you have to reveal personal information".

Of course - you reveal it once then it's on the damned card for ever.

Poop Poop

Cheers

[Guest]

How do I get more liberty by being stopped by the local polizei (sp?) demanding Papiere bitte? Papiere bitte? May I see your papers please?