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ID Card Free Zones - Quotes

 

What people have said about the proposed legislation:

"The Bill is designed to print across our foreheads a human barcode. Those who do not wish to understand the seriousness of what the Bill represents in terms of the change in the culture and society in which we live are failing in their duties as representatives of the public." - Edward Garnier, Conservative MP for Harborough in the Standing Committee debate

"The horrendous economic costs of the ID card scheme are clear; the social costs will be with us for decades. Parliament must reject this rehashed ID card Bill; a scheme more about political machismo than rational policy" - Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty, 25/05/05

 

"In the next Parliament ID cards will prove to be the new gambling Bill : at first broadly popular in principle, on inspection increasingly problematical in practice and finally open to growing philosophical attack.

"..many floating Conservatives today ask what the fuss is all about. Well, tell them! Tell them why it won't work. Tell them how forgetful little old ladies will be carted off by the police for leaving their cards at home while al-Qaeda bombers will carry impeccable forged credentials at all times. Remind them about the Madrid bombings, where Spaniards had compulsory ID cards. Remind them they'll have to pay." - Matthew Pariss, The Times, 16/04/05

 

The conclusion of the interim report from the LSE stated:

"The Identity Cards Bill raises many questions concerning compatibility with existing Data Protection legislation. The remaining lack of clarity of purpose and the wide ranging scope for the Secretary of State to amend the various elements of the legislation by Order, mean that the elements of transparency and certainty sought by the First Data Protection Principle may not be provided. The lack of clarity has a knock on effect for satisfying the remaining principles – if the purpose is not clear it is difficult to assess whether information stored is relevant or excessive.  The Bill also proposes turning the principle that it is the data controller’s duty to ensure the accuracy of their data on its head by laying this onus on the individual themselves. Furthermore, though not clearly stated, it is implicit that the information fed into the Register will be kept indefinitely.  The Bill in many ways seeks to obviate the requirements of the DPA by taking the whole ID card outside the data protection regime: “The Government’s commitment to make the scheme consistent with the data protection legislation can be summarized as outline proposals to exempt the scheme from five of the eight data protection principles through the use of statutory powers.”

To see the full report click here

 

"At no time, for example, did government risk debating its plans on any of the platforms offered outside parliament. In one example a year ago, at the London School of Economics (LSE), nobody from the Home Office appeared to discuss the issues with parliamentary leaders, legal and government groups and leading figures in the privacy and identity space.

At that meeting, I wrote: Never have I seen a pillar of government policy look so demonstrably fragile and flawed. Neatly dissected by the opening arguments of the Shadow Home Secretary and then buried alive by the experts who followed, we were offered little or no reason to believe that an identity card would be proportionate, cost effective or even capable of addressing the problems surrounding terrorism or illegal immigration." - Simon Moores Managing Director of Zentelligence Research and vice chairman of policy development for the Conservative Technology Forum

 

"firms are concerned about information being shared without adequate safeguards. Companies want more information on the national identity registry and serious questions remain unanswered. What types of data will be stored? How will the government assure accuracy and integrity?" -CBI Deputy Director-General John Cridland

 

"Your identity is your most valuable possession. Protect it. And if anything goes wrong, use your powers!" - Helen Parr/Elastigirl from the film "The Incredibles"