Data watchdog slams ID card plans

[R. A. Hettinga]

<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/16/id_card_surveillance_fears/print.html>

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 Original URL:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/16/id_card_surveillance_fears/

Data watchdog slams ID card plans
By John Leyden (john.leyden at theregister.co.uk)
Published Monday 16th August 2004 14:05 GMT

Britain is at risk "sleepwalking into a surveillance society" because of
David Blunkett's identity card scheme and other UK government plans,
according to the UK's Information Commissioner.

Richard Thomas also cited plans for a population register by the Office for
National Statistics and a database on children, in warning of a slide
towards a Big Brother-style system of ubiquitous surveillance in the UK.
Thomas predicted Britain risks moving towards an East German Stasi-style
snooping culture if current plans are followed through.

Thomas's comments came in an interview
(http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1218615_2,00.html) with The
Times published today. He said: "My anxiety is that we don't sleepwalk into
a surveillance society where much more information is collected about
people, accessible to far more people shared across many more boundaries
than British society would feel comfortable with."

The Information Commissioner is not opposed to ID cards on principle. But
he is concerned about what he sees as the Home Office's failure to clearly
define a purpose for ID cards, the amount of information that would be held
on any card and who might be able to access this information. Clamping down
on benefit fraud, control illegal immigration and preventing terrorism have
been cited as the main reason why Britain needs ID cards by the Home Office
at one time or another.

The government proposed ID card scheme will involve the establishment of a
national register of citizens' personal details, widely accessible to
government departments. This approach gives the UK's Information watchdog
the fear.

In response to the Home Office's consultation on identity cards, Thomas
concludes "whilst I am not fundamentally opposed to the introduction of ID
cards I do have significant concerns about the current proposals. The
privacy implications of an extensive national identity register are, in
many ways, of far greater concern for individuals. This aspect needs more
of a public debate."
-- 
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R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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