British ID cards to revolutionise crime

Home Secretary David Blunkett announced the start of a six month consultation in Parliament today on plans by the government to introduce "entitlement cards" (that's ID cards to you and me).

Lobby group Privacy International reckons the proposal for a national identity card has little to do with the government's stated objectives of reducing the threat of crime, terrorism and illegal immigration. Its real purpose is part of a broader objective outlined in the Cabinet Office report "Privacy & Data Sharing" to create a new administrative basis for the linkage of government databases and information systems.

But worse, the government's ID card plan could backfire and become a tool for criminal syndicates, according to Privacy International which argues that
a national ID card- whether voluntary or mandatory - will compound problems of illegal immigration, fraud and identity theft.

The pressure group argues that national identity cards initiatives have no effect on the reduction of crime or fraud, but introduce additional problems of discrimination, criminal false identity and administrative chaos.

According to Simon Davies, Privacy International's Director, criminals now have access to technology almost as sophisticated at that used by governments so that "even the most highly secure cards are available as blanks weeks after their introduction.

"The ramifications of an ID card conform to the dynamics of the black market economy. Whenever governments attempt to introduce an ID card, it is always based on the aim of eliminating false identity," Davies said.

"The higher the stated 'integrity' (infallibility) of a card, the greater is its value to criminals and illegal immigrants. A high-value card attracts substantially larger investment in corruption and counterfeit activity. The equation is simple: higher value ID equals greater criminal activity."

The government says a national ID card will combat the growing problem of identity theft, in which a person's identity is fraudulently acquired for criminal purposes. It is a huge problem in the US, made all the worse because of the ubiquitous Social Security Number. Critics of national ID proposals in the US have warned that any central ID number massively increases the incidence of identity theft. Privacy International supports this view, and predicts that any national ID system will increase identity theft in the UK to US proportions. ®

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Hey Brits: Aren't you getting tired of being the guinea pigs for the American left's social engineering experiments?

Yes.

I'd think that after you fell for that stupid gun control argument you would have learned your lesson, but noooooo. See what it got you? A much higher crime rate per capita than the US.

I never fell for that gun control argument. I had a "heated debate" this afternoon with another Brit who supports the gun control lobby and wouldn't believe me when I told him that the levels of burglary, muggings etc, are lower in the USA than in Britain. Have you come across any good articles recently that proves gun ownership in the USA protects innocent people and deters crime? I thought I'd give the liberal idiot some reading material, so that he can make an informed decision about gun control.

He just couldn't understand why anyone would want to own or use a gun. In fact, he was appalled when I told him that if someone tried to mug me with a knife I would be happy to pull a gun on them and shoot them if necessary. He actually condemned me, because I am prepared to use violence against a mugger, "who is probably just a drug addict". As if my position would not be morally superior to that of a mugger threatening me with violence to get my hard earned cash.

Now it is the National ID, and this experiment with Huge Brother should be very interesting indeed.

The gutless toerags in the British government are using any excuse to get closer to their preferred "Big Brother" society. Its a shame there are so many ignorant sheep among the British people who are ready to swallow their lies - this one isn't falling for it though. Can you believe that 85% of British people surveyed in a recent MORI poll said that they thought fingerprints should be included on ID cards? Don't these idiots realise the potential for innocent people to be accused of crimes they had no idea had even occurred?

There was a case last year where a British man, who was arrested and fingerprinted as a teenager for a minor offence, was convicted more than 20 years later for a burglary. The problem is he couldn't possibly have committed the burglary because he was at home with his wife and child at the time. The prosecution's case rested solely on a thumb print which was found on a jewelry box in the burgled house. The print was matched to his right thumb print, but the print lift couldn't have come from the box's surface since there was no wood grain pattern on the background! Independent experts swore to this in court. However, the Police "experts" stuck to their story and he was convicted and sentenced to 4 years imprisonment. The man has led a blameless life since his teenage run in with the Police and has a family to support. Now he is languishing in prison because of Police corruption and the incompetence of the British "justice system".

If the bastards try to fingerprint me, or take my DNA profile, then I will emigrate. I don't see why I, as a law abiding British subject, who pays his taxes, has never claimed unemployment benefit, works for a living and has no criminal record, should have my intimate identifying details stored by the state. Just so that some unaccountable Policeman can have a patsy to pin any unsolved crime on and our politicians can grandstand about how they are fighting terrorism, as if ID cards could possibly prevent terrorism.

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