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MSP signs up for battle to stop ID cards

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Published Date: 29 January 2008
GREEN MSP Patrick Harvie has agreed to sign a pressure group's pledge not to co-operate with controversial plans for ID cards.
Mr Harvie, a long-standing opponent of identity cards, is due to sign the pledge tomorrow at a meeting of the Edinburgh branch of privacy campaigners NO2ID.

The group has asked people to pledge they will not register for an ID card or supply any of the 50 pieces of personal information that would be stored on the Government's proposed National Identity Register.

Edinburgh NO2ID co-ordinator, Dr John Welford, said: "With the HMRC Child Benefit debacle, confidential records being dumped on a roundabout and Northern Ireland driving licence and Merseyside health staff details being lost, confidence in the Government's ability to safeguard personal information is crumbling.

"But still they persist in the fallacy that ID cards will protect against ID fraud. It is time for individuals to stand up and resist this nonsense."

The meeting takes place tomorrow at the Quaker Meeting House on Victoria Terrace.



The full article contains 178 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 29 January 2008 11:32 AM
  • Source: Edinburgh Evening News
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Green Party
 
1

oder,

Scotland 29/01/2008 12:56:45
used ID cards for years, never had a problem! its about time these dinosaur politicians came into 22nd century.
2

James (1),

29/01/2008 13:07:08
#1 agree. Make all carry an ID card and if found not to have one it would be " Is that Easyjet, I would like to book a seat for ....."
We need to get tough on the people who should not be here.
3

Alternative (High Octane) Fuel Head,

Edinburgh 29/01/2008 13:14:15
#2:

"We need to get tough on the people who should not be here"

Fair enough James, but I DO have a right to be here. I have a birth certificate, passport and driving licence that confirm this, as well as a residence where all the utilities are in my name.

Laws already exist to deal with "those who should not be here". Enforce them. Don't go imposing things on others under the guise of making life easier for the authorities. You know as well as I know that should this rediculous scheme ever get on the statute books, it will not make one iota of difference to the situation with illegal immigrants etc.
4

RCI,

Lanarkshire 29/01/2008 13:36:38
ID cards are a waste of money and are an affront to
personal freedom.

Suppose they will use that worn out phrase.

"If you have nothing to hide then where is the problem."

My problem is that I like my privacy. If I have done nothing wrong and transgressed no laws, then I have earned the right to a relative anonymity. Our government institutions have not proved to be the best caretakers of our personal information and the creation of yet another overblown, unworkable database with dubious motives is another step in the wrong direction.

Make ID cards strong and absorbent. Then they will be fit for purpose.

5

Teamdroid,

29/01/2008 13:51:50
#1,#2 - you're being ignorant about the real issue with the UK ID card system. It's not the cards themselves, but the enormously complicated computer database being set up to track their use, the National ID Register. No other country which uses ID cards has or intends such an invasive system - every time you use your ID card, it would be logged. Not just your information held on a computer system, but your way of life.
Personally, I don't have a problem with the simple ID systems operated in much of Europe. But the proposed UK system is a completely different beast, practically an old Soviet internal passport. Go to No2ID and read up.
6

ButterFlapjackBite,

29/01/2008 18:57:13
"Make all carry an ID card and if found not to have one it would be " Is that Easyjet, I would like to book a seat for .....""

Well if they do make these ludicrous things compulsory I'll be booking my own Easyjet flight to somewhere I can go about my own private business without being spied on.
7

oder,

Scotland 29/01/2008 20:59:48
as I said havent had a problem and used them for years!

Teamdroid, what information of yours is not already out in the public domain? if I go into a bank to make a withdraw the girl behind the counter asks for ID I hand over the card she sees that the description matches me
she feels confidant that she hands over the money to the right person whats wrong with that? or if Benefit theft/fraud is prevented as a tax payer its your money are you happy that people steal it? as for this idea the everyone is going to be "watched" this belongs in realms of fantasy almost all countries have have it.
there are not enough policemen/intelligence operative or jails to cope with watching 65 million people in Britain and considering this government inability to know immigration numbers you don't have a problem.
Its going to take all the government resources just to keep tabs on the known criminals. dont be parnoid!

6 ButterFlapjackBite,29/

"Well if they do make these ludicrous things compulsory I'll be booking my own Easyjet flight to somewhere I can go about my own private business without being spied on."

thats forward thinking! remember to take your ID card with you! you`ll need it, Britain is the last place in the modern world that have no ID cards.
8

oder,

Scotland 29/01/2008 21:30:04
sorry typo should be "paranoid"
9

Roberta Burns,

29/01/2008 21:40:51
#! and #2 - Wimps.

You are the type who bow and scrape to everyone 'above your station'. Have you thought about the people who will hold your information? Crooked politicians, lawyers, utility companies et al. Then, there's the cokehead admin assistant who taps them all onto the computer - not caring a jot if they've got it right.

Then, of course, there's the security companies who transfer the data between all the interested parties.

And then, there's the crooked and clever employees who can spot a nice little earner for themselves.

Sorry, I'm not prepared to give them any more power to abuse than they already have.
10

oder,

Scotland 29/01/2008 22:43:15
9 Roberta Burns,29

what information about you isn't already held by crooked politicians? ever signed a document? had a prescription? bought an airline ticket? car licence tv licence, ever giving blood? ever been part of an organisation of any kind? visited a doctor? work for any one including your self? had dealings with a lawyer, a bank
all the information about already exists on record as for who will hold this information not much difference from the people who already hold it.

"Then, of course, there's the security companies who transfer the data between all the interested parties."

sensitive personal data is under the data protection act

"And then, there's the crooked and clever employees who can spot a nice little earner for themselves."

what prevents them doing now?

Sorry, I'm not prepared to give them any more power to abuse than they already have.

you don't have to give them anything they can do that now with the existing info if the want,

as for bowing and scraping I have kicked a few rear ends above and below my "station"!

hysteria/Paranoia comes from lack of understandig

11

oder,

Scotland 29/01/2008 22:45:07
typo should be "understanding"

 

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