While it is ok for government to want an Identity Card that will contain 51 categories of data on every adult in the UK, the Department of Works and Pensions thinks it is unacceptable for it to hand over three government reports into the costs and benefits of the identity card scheme. The Information Commissioner has ordered DWP to comply with a Freedom of Information request by Lib Dem Mark Oaten but they are appealing, a process that will take some months.
The oft-quoted verse from the book of Proverbs, ‘where there is no vision, the people perish,’ (chapter 29, verse 18) opens a new book by Gerry O’Hanlon, A New Vision for the Catholic Church: A View from Ireland (Columba Press, 2011). That verse could be considered an apt summary of the current state of the [...] read our review »
More as a trailer than a review – as it’s out on Thursday– I draw attention to Fintan O’Toole’s latest polemic “Enough is Enough – how to build a new Republic“. Fintan has been promoting the book vigorously on this side of the water, on Radio 4’s Start the Week and here at greater length [...] read our review »
Fair Deal,
Where can i find a list of the 51 categories?
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2006/ukpga_20060015_en.pdf
Schedule 1 if memory serves
Thanks, Fair Deal!
Very frightening indeed… and it isn’t just 51 categories. A lot of the wording is rather wooly, such as 2(d)…other biometric information. What does this mean, iris scans, DNA samples, what? We won’t know until the scheme is put in place. And then there is the last item, basically a who, when, and why your ID details were accessed, providing a convenient cross-reference for all sorts of databases. And some people actually put the data collection for the ID cards to begin as soon as October this year for passport renewals, hence the Renew for Freedom campaign. As far as the costs go, it’s no surprise the government will try to keep it a secret; they don’t want to disclose (a) the costs to the public (currently estimated at £19bn and counting), and (b) the potential profits for the private businesses that will eventually run the scheme.
If it anything like the other IT projects then …..
Whoever is going to make these cards will make a fortune. (What are the odds on Prescott already having had dinner with them?!) A campaign of civil disobedience is needed against these cards if they are indeed forced upon us.