Coalition just the same as Labour? they prove it everyday, now with ID cards

[-:Undertaker:-]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolog...ty-system.html
Coalition builds new national identity system

The Coalition has quietly begun work on a new national identity system, less than a year after it scrapped Labour’s derided ID cards.

Labour's ID cards were killed off by a civil liberties outcry

A prototype of the new system is due to be in place as soon as October this year. It will aim to reliably identify users of government websites, as part of plans to deliver more public services via the web. George Osborne believes the shift online will cut Whitehall administration costs and so help soften the blow of spending cuts over the next few years. Several private companies that already hold personal data, including credit card providers, will be involved in the system.

Such firms have already verified their customers’ identities, so privacy campaigners hope government will not itself collect personal data, in contrast to the National Identity Register that was to be the basis of ID cards. Visa is known to be involved in the plans and is conducting trials that would allow its customers to log in to government websites using credit card details.

“Currently customers have to enter multiple login details and passwords to access different public services, sometimes on the same website,” said Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister responsible for the cross-government plan. “This involves significant duplication, is expensive to operate and is highly inconvenient for users.” He also claimed the new scheme, dubbed “identity assurance”, would also make it more difficult for fraudsters to dupe the benefits and tax systems. The government has informed privacy campaigners such as the pressure group NO2ID about the plans, in an attempt to avoid the civil liberties outcry that ultimately destroyed ID cards.

But Guy Herbert, NO2ID’s general secretary warned that “the devil will be in the details and especially the legal details” of the new scheme. He said the Cabinet Office had not yet offered details despite its tight schedule. “It’s not a bad thing in itself to check that the person you are talking to is the person you want to talk to,” Mr Herbert said. “But whatever the good intentions at the outset, the fear will always be that the bureaucratic imperative to collect and share more data about the public will take over."

Identity assurance will be implemented from August next year as part of major government initiatives such as forthcoming radical reforms to the benefits system and improvements to online tax assessments. It will then gradually be extended so users will be able to use the same login for all public services online.

Well here we go again, and yet everytime I compare just how the same they are on the economy, education, healthcare, military, foreign policy, the EU and so forth I simply get brushed aside as though what i'm saying is just simply inconvientent in the scheme of red vs blue vs yellow. But here we are again, faced with a government which is the same as the last government which even copies the last government on the very few things it *said* it disagreed on.

I could have said it earlier (as I did) in the fact that the Conservatives afterall were the ones who thought of ID cards in the first place, with Michael Howard producing the first government green paper on this sinister idea.

I can't sum it up better than this really,

@Nigel_Farage Nigel Farage
Coalition I'd cards plan shows Big Government never stops. Only the rosettes are a different colour; the people are just the same

Think the unliberal undemocratic Liberal Democrats will save your civil liberties? think again and wake up. I think maybe its certainly time the Labour Party, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats all merged into one coalition and then a real opposition, perhaps still unformed, could challenge them on this issue among many and say that "no actually, we shouldn't treat people guilty until proven innocent." - But that of course won't happen until you stop voting for them in droves.

Thoughts? are the parties different in any way to one another? should we be forced to carry ID cards?

[Conservative,]

I like the idea of ID cards because it stops, or helps prevent, illegal immigration. However I don't like it because I won't be able to get beer by claiming I'm 18 when I'm 16 with a car >_> (Blue Badge ftw).

But yeah I think in general it is a good idea, but if they thought it was a good idea they shouldn't have scrapped it because it just makes them look hypocritical now.

[Mathew]

I've always been a fan of ID Cards to be honest. It reminds me if when we go on a cruise and everyone is given their room key on a little card with their name, DOB, etc; you can also pay for stuff on it at the bars and shops which is brilliant.

I think ID Cards are a good way to know exactly who is who and I think it can only be beneficial. If this was done the right way, then they'd have a biometric chip on them which, upon swiping, it would give photographs of the pupil and fingerprint. It would make border control in countries such as the United States much easier because all you'd need to do is swipe your card. It's like carrying a mini-passport and I think it has potential.

Interesting to see that they've brought it back after shooting it down though. It appears to be arguing for the sake of arguing in Parliament lately. Oh you're a Labour MP so obviously your idea if ****e, and the likes....

[Technologic]

From what I understand from this highly informative article the government wants to bring in a standardised system by which everyone has a single log in for the various government websites to reduce costs? This is hardly a return to ID cards....

[GommeInc]

From what I understand from this highly informative article the government wants to bring in a standardised system by which everyone has a single log in for the various government websites to reduce costs? This is hardly a return to ID cards....

We log in to the Government websites? :S I've never done that

[dbgtz]

We log in to the Government websites? :S I've never done that

Setting up for the future? Digital elections? Maybe? I don't actually see why it hasn't been done already but lol.

Anyway I don't see the problem with ID cards.

[AgnesIO]

Setting up for the future? Digital elections? Maybe? I don't actually see why it hasn't been done already but lol.

Anyway I don't see the problem with ID cards.

Because Labour/Conservatives/LD suggested them, therefore they are a ridiculous idea.

--

Nothing against ID card, would be helpful imo

[GommeInc]

Is the ID card really that important? It could just work off the same, successful idea as the NHS card which just logs you in and contains a quick link to your NHS data, prescriptions etc. It holds no information and requires a password I believe. If its only use is to log you in then they may aswell take this option, it seems cheaper too.

Call it a Citizens ID card or something less scary and important.

EDIT: Are we the only country considering having these? I won't say I'd use it, I have a driving license and passport for a reason - the latter which has a chip and will be used the same way as the card (for going through the fast-track/speed lane).

[AgnesIO]

Is the ID card really that important? It could just work off the same, successful idea as the NHS card which just logs you in and contains a quick link to your NHS data, prescriptions etc. It holds no information and requires a password I believe. If its only use is to log you in then they may aswell take this option, it seems cheaper too.

Call it a Citizens ID card or something less scary and important.

EDIT: Are we the only country considering having these? I won't say I'd use it, I have a driving license and passport for a reason - the latter which has a chip and will be used the same way as the card (for going through the fast-track/speed lane).

I assume it will be less risky to carry these than a passport or something?

In Spain, you have to have your passport with you when driving, so perhaps this would take a similar role?

[Chippiewill]

From what I understand from this highly informative article the government wants to bring in a standardised system by which everyone has a single log in for the various government websites to reduce costs? This is hardly a return to ID cards....

This is what I was thinking, quite like Undertaker to take any opportunity to take something so trivial out of proportion. I hardly think that having the same login details for multiple websites is quite the same as carrying the key to identity theft in your pocket.