UK ID Card - FAIL!

by ktetch

In the last ten years, governments have fallen over themselves to try and obtain more information about their citizens. Sometimes it's databases, or new regulations, or cameras, but the one thing they have in common is that they can be used to identify you, and track you. Today is a positive step then, as in the UK, it's the last day for the "UK Identity Card" - after midnight GMT tonight, they will no longer be valid for use at all.

The Identity card system was a perfect example of Big Brother. They were photo cards that, like a passport, enabled you to travel to other countries (but only a few countries, unlike a passport) and could be used to prove your identity, just like a modern photo driving licence. What then was the point?

Well, there is a significant percentage of people in the UK that didn't have passports, OR driving licenses. They might use other documents to prove their age, such as a university identity card. The problem is, all these people are not on government databases. They are harder to track by 'Big Brother'. That's "The Bad"

The ugly is that these cards used Biometric data. That's a fancy way of saying 'body/person specific information.' The most common type is a photograph – the image of your face is biologically unique to your person – although fingerprints, and DNA are common types of biometric. These cards used fingerprints and photographs, while passports and driving licenses only use photographs. So, there's another major drive – it's another way for peoples fingerprints to get onto government databases, where they can be combed at need.

One of the few things that apparently endeared the Con/Lib coalition to the voters, was the abolition of the cards. It was seen by many as an expensive and ultimately useless program, that existed mainly to fill another database. The Identity Documents Act was proposed in 2010, and gained royal assent a month ago, making it law. The bill made all such cards invalid a month from Royal assent, meaning today, January 21st is the last day they can be used.

So, how did the project work out?
BADLY

...MORE HERE...