Britain introduces identity cards: who do they think you are?

Last Monday, November 30, the Manchester Identity and Passport service opened its doors and began issuing the first identity cards to British subjects since 1952. (1)

Although the cards themselves are bad enough, they are perhaps the most benign aspect of the whole enterprise, the true meat of which is the National Identity Register’(2), a centralised database in which details of all those who carry the card will be held. Fifty items per individual of personal data are to be stored (3) on this database and these will include fingerprints and facial scans, with provision for further data to be added at a later date.

Although plans to make the cards themselves compulsory were dropped anyone wishing to avoid being present on the National Identity Register will, from 2011, find themselves listed if they apply for a passport. If the government is successful in rolling out identity cards across the country then this will represent a massive accumulation of personal data and an unacceptable intrusion into the private lives of UK subjects.

Yet despite its scope, since the scheme’s inception the government has failed to make a case for its introduction. The latest attempt came from Meg Hiller, the minister for identity, who, when appearing (4) on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, suggested that a major benefits for the people of Manchester from identity cards would be that they would be able to collect parcels from post offices with greater ease and that young people would now no longer need a passport to prove their age whilst gaining entry to a nightclub.

These are extremely modest improvements to modern life for a project that the Government has forecast will cost £5.6 (5) and the LSE £10.2-19.6 (6) billion to run for ten years. Other justifications for the scheme have included the prevention of terrorism, identity theft and benefit fraud but none of these stands up to scrutiny.