ID theft more likely, not less likely, if you join National Identity Register

I find it interesting that six of the eleven assassins who recently bumped off a Hamas official in Dubai used false British identities—surely a joke on the nation that gave the world James Bond. It’s not very nice to wake up one morning and discover you are wanted by Interpol for murder. Especially puzzling when you find your passport is still in the drawer next to the bed. Of course, your identity has been stolen and used. How? In this case, Mossad probably just dipped into the Israeli ID database and pulled a few names out--"Ah yes, he's British, let's use him." No sweat at all really.

One of the reasons—only one, and not even the most important one!—NO2ID is adamantly opposed to the government’s looney ID scheme is that you are much more likely to become a victim of identity theft if you're in the National Identity Register. It’s logical. How can I explain this? Would you put all your eggs in one basket and then place them outside your house and trust no one to steal them? That’s what signing into the National Identity Register entails—handing over all your personal information and hoping no one will steal it. Just trust the government!

The equation to remember: ID card = National Identity Register = totally unacceptable risk. So, DON’T GET A BRITISH ID CARD. It's not worth the risk, and most definitely not in your interests to have all your information placed in one very openly displayed basket.

The British ID card is a trick to get you on the National Identity Register; it is not a “useful tool”!

The government are rolling out ID cards in London. Whoopee. Here is the government spin: “The national identity card will prove an extremely useful tool for young people in London, whether they are opening a bank account, buying age-restricted goods such as computer games or DVDs, entering a nightclub or travelling to Europe.”

Who does Meg Hillier think she is kidding, and why is she going along with this nonsense? The ID card is not being introduced to help people at all. The purpose of the ID card is to trick you to signing into the National Identity Register, a sinister database that will in future, according to the grand plan, be accessible by every plonker bureaucrat in the land. You’ll have your fingerprints taken, eyes scanned, and other critical information about you listed on one electronic file. Congratulations, you’ve just been tagged for life, and updating the information will become your responsibility on pain of a large fine! Still want an ID card? Think again my friends. This ridiculous scheme is doomed to failure. The headlines one morning in the papers will be: “Everyone’s personal information lost”, only it won’t have been an accident...

Stay off the National Identity Register AT ALL COSTS. Protest the ID card scheme, and join NO2ID today. This is a crucial time, and we must not let young people be conned into getting one of these insidious cards. We must fight to keep Britain free. The stakes are that high.

Recap

In this video (it's on google videos--see sidebar below) Phil Booth, NO2ID National Co-ordiantor, and Peter Tatchell talk about the ID Scheme. The interview makes for compelling viewing, and Phil sums up very well all that is wrong with this disasterous and politically dangerous project. Although the video was done a little while ago, I feel this highly relevant discussion serves as a good recap for the Thanet NO2ID (+ Dover NO2ID + Canterbury NO2ID) blog to end the decade with--unless something really stunning happens in the next 20 days :)

Liverpool Labour rebel councillors say No 2 ID

I am delighted to pass on the following “hot” press release which indicates yet more resistance to the governments'looney ID scheme:

Last night Liverpool City Council passed a motion - with the full support of the Labour group - rejecting the government's ID card scheme. The motion, prompted by reports that Liverpool may follow Manchester as a 'beacon city' for the roll out of the National Identity Scheme, bans the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) from using any council-controlled premises or facilities to promote the scheme. It also suggests that Gordon Brown set out to mislead last autumn's Labour Party Conference about the scheme. NO2ID says the 'voluntary' pilot scheme is an ID Card Con. Anyone induced to pay £30 for an ID card also has to be fingerprinted, photographed and interviewed by the IPS, and becomes subject for life to regulations issued by the Home Office under the Identity Cards Act. Their personal information may be passed to other government departments, their use of the card is tracked, and they must report any change in personal circumstances to the IPS or face penalties of up to £1,000.

Phil Booth, NO2ID's National Coordinator, said:'Neither the people of Liverpool nor their elected representatives have been conned. We particularly congratulate Labour councillors for taking their constituents' sides against the Home Office's favourite surveillance scheme, even if a Labour Home Secretary complacently lets the bureaucrats steam on, spending uncounted millions in the biggest ID theft of all.'

--Your people Stephen.

"Secure database"--what a joke

Another of our predictions, i.e.that the national register databse is NOT secure and WILL be compromised, has already come true. OK, so nine people have been sacked for data breach. But it's not their fault--the hairbrained ID scheme is inherently flawed in design and concept. Unyet our dumbo government are pushing ahead with ID cards and the associated database in an appalling display of ignorant stubborness.

NO2ID states on the national website:

IT providers find that identity systems work best when limited in design. The Home Office scheme combines untested technologies on an unparalleled scale. Its many inchoate purposes create innumerable points for failure. The government record with computer projects is poor, and the ID system is likely to end up a broken mess.

We told you so folks...

NO2ID applauds Laura Sandys' position on ID cards

Thanet Tory Laura Sandys, who is standing for the Conservatives in Thanet South at the next general election, has come out loud and clear against ID cards. Her position on the duff ID card scheme, and her general orientation against state snooping, is highly commendable. As Laura says on her website, "Governments want to regulate our behaviour, our freedom of speech and now planning to monitor our every move through the introduction of Identity cards." It is encouraging to see that someone who might well gain power in the not too distant future grasps the fact that the government's insidious ID card scheme is really all about social control.
Note: NO2ID is a non-party pressure group and we do not tell people how to vote.

ID Cards? No thanks.

Parliament recently passed some legislative “tools” to allow the authorities to impose fines on people for not updating their British ID Card—when and IF (don’t do it!) they get one. This just makes a mockery of the governments’ talk about ID cards being “voluntary.”

Opposition to, or at least suspicion of, the ID card scheme has bloomed greatly among the British public this year, and I am grateful to NO2ID colleague Ian for forwarding his latest press release which addresses this trend:

Home Secretary Alan Johnson plans to go ahead with the ID Cards scheme and the new database of personal information behind it, despite polls showing that 68% of the population think state databases already hold too much information about them, and 79% believing the £5bn cost would be better spent elsewhere. Ian Taylor, Dover Branch Co-ordinator of the NO2ID campaign, said: "The cards' appearance is a distraction from the real issues. This is another step towards the snooper state. Anyone accepting one of these cards will be fingerprinted and have their daily lives monitored via a £5bn database gathering details of how they use it. ID Card holders would be forced to report every change in their personal details for the rest of their life, and would never be allowed to hand the card back. Only three weeks ago the government enacted fines of up to £1000 for anyone losing an ID card, or failing to buy a new one every ten years.” Whitehall's identity cards scheme has no place in our country, and must be scrapped immediately.

On another, technical, note I was intrigued to learn from this post on the excellent Spy Blog that an ID card could conceivably make you a bomb target. Still want an ID Card? No thanks.