No2ID

UPDATE Aberystwyth has a No2ID group NO2IDaber@yahoo.co.uk for more information. To be honest it is a waste of time and energy, campaign for something useful!

Arguments for National ID Cards Countered

Proponents of a national ID scheme suggest a number of problems will be miraculously solved by having a national identity card.

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Homeland Security

'ID Cards will increase homeland security by providing a way of identifying people who might be involved with terrorism.'

Spain have a national ID card which failed to prevent the bombings in Madrid.
The government has itself said it won't be an effective counter-terrorism measure.
Of the 19 Hijackers that attacked the WTC.
- 7 had student visas.
- 3 had obtained 'accelerated visas'
- 2 had known links to al-Qaida
- All 19 entered America legally, although 3 had overstayed their visas.

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Proof of Age & Identity

'ID cards will provide a proof of age'

Proof of age cards already exist.

Voluntary cards from the following groups are probably accepted in most bars.

'ID cards will provide a method proving your identity for those without passport or driving license'

The example of when you might need to prove your identity I can think of right now is to open a bank account, for which I think a birth certificate and proof of address is sufficient. Anyone over the age of 16 can apply for a provisional driving license, which provides photo-id, costs £38 and can be obtained using your birth certificate.

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Illegal Immigration & Working

'ID cards will help prevent illegal immigration and working'

Illegal immigrants are often employed by people who are well aware that they are not allowed to work and are paid cash. They will be forced to avoid areas where ID cards are liable to be needed. If unable to find work without an ID card, they may turn to crime in order to survive rather than simply uproot themselves to move to a country they have deliberatly left.

The police already have a fingerprint based database used for identify immigrants. (I am not sure of the details currently, I will try to find out --Aimaz 04:16, 13 Jan 2005 (GMT))

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Nothing to Hide

'Why should I worry about ID cards? I have nothing to hide and neither should any law-abiding citizen'

Will you have something to hide after the machinery of dictatorship is installed and the government is coming after you? Remember governments can change, so even if your views are in-line now, they might be way off the scale in the future.

What if, as a law abiding citizen, you testify in court against a high ranking member of the mob? What if the mob can afford to bribe someone with access to the database to get the list of every address you've ever lived at, and the lists of your parents, children and friends (what you think they won't store family link information in the database?) so even with your new identity, they could kidnap your loved ones or will they all get new identities too?

Even worse, what if terrorists, got that information? They could have a nicely formatted print out of every tax inspector in the country. Imagine a world without tax inspectors! Ok, bad example, but they could get a list of say, bank managers and wreak havoc on the economy. What? I'm being alarmist? You're the one who is suggesting everyone should carry a card, have their history recorded and pay for the privelege so the illegal immigrants don't use the NHS or whatever it is you want from the card.

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Anti-Social Behaviour

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Access to Services

The Identity Cards Bill 2005 specifically requires National Identity Register checks before access to many services including hospitals, enrolling in school and recieving benefits. ID Cards will not reduce illegal use of these services. For example benefit fraud is a result of people claiming too much not too many people claiming. Private companies such as bank will be able to use biometric readers and anyone, anywhere will be able to demand to see a card before serving you. Many, such as transport companies have already said they will do this.

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