Are government issued identiy cards a good thing?

Question

I was concerned they have access to bank details

What details do they want. I was concerned they have access to bank details. for what?

Answer 1

The 29th march 2006 will go down in history as the day that democracy died in the UK. This was the day our once-proud nation allowed this most dangerous and extreme government to introduce ID cards under the thin veil of anti-terrorist protection.

I’ve said this before, and I’m going to say it again: ID cards will not stop terrorists, in the same way that many hundreds of people enter and leave our once great country on fake passports every year.

“But” I hear some of the doubters among you cry; “I value my freedom to be able to sit on a bus without being blown up greater than my freedom to be anonymous. We will be a lot safer when we know and can identify the people amongst us. The sooner we had ID cards the better.”

Oh dear, Mr Imagined Reader With A Psychic Link To Me, you must be very naive if you think ID cards will protect you from any form of wrong-doing. In fact, you must have completely swallowed and digested all the bullshit that Blair and his cronies have fed you. The facts of the matter are very simple - ID cards are being promoted in the name of national security, using the recent acts of terrorism as an excuse, when in fact they are just another stealth tax. This government is that much in a financial black hole that they will try anything to shaft us. One of these things being the imposition of these cards which we will legally be obliged to carry within the next few years- and we are going to have to pay for them out of our own pockets as well.

Yes, you heard me correctly. The government is telling us we MUST carry these things, and also that we MUST pay for the privilege. This is an example of a government which is the lowest of the low. It’s basically making it a criminal offence NOT to pay them some cash.

And no doubt we will all be legally obliged to update our ID cards every ten years or so and have to pay for THAT little honour out of our own pockets too. It’s nothing short of disgraceful!

The stark and harsh truth is absolutely terrifying, and I’m sure I’m not being paranoid when I say this, but I believe that the use of ID cards is not only to con us out of a little bit more of our hard-earned cash, but also to control the population. It is not, as they would like us to believe, to save us from some enemy within. An enemy which only exists, it would seen, thanks to an illegal war that should shame everyone in the western world. This was a war where the WEST decided that the way a particular Eastern country was running it’s show was wrong, so went marching in with guns a-blazing in order to rectify this ‘error’. Anyone who supports the imposition of democracy by the use of arms simply does not understand the concept of freedom. This can be proved by the situation in Iraq right now. Are these people REALLY better off now the allied forces have ‘liberated’ them?

It does raise eyebrows, and also brings forth the age old suggestion again that the only reason the west had anything at all to do with the situation in Iraq was all due to the amount of oil there. Surely the amount of deaths, bombings and rioting in Iraq disproves any argument that the country is in any way better off now than it was under the reign of Saddam Hussein.

Terrorism is as rife in that country as it ever was. And now, thanks to our meddling, it’s getting that way over here too. And our Government’s answer? A little card with a photo, fingerprint and retina scan on it. THIS is, according to them, the ultimate weapon in our armoury to foil terrorism. What a joke!

Let me give you the harsh truth here:

Identity cards will not operate as a preventative to terrorism.

Those illegally present in the UK already thrive undisturbed by the authorities hidden among millions of us, often in collusion with an existing established network of foreign communities. They often have no accessible identity, or alternatively carry false documentation, take cash employment, set up dummy bank accounts and earn illicit cash in black market economy which can be diverted abroad in order to fund terrorist purposes. These people may have been routinely stopped and questioned in the capital by British Transport Police or others, produce no valid ID card or fail to supply other valid alternative evidence relating to their identity, yet fail to be detected nor detained. Officers may contact immigration about a suspected illegal yet there is a systems failure in the sense no action is taken to detain or collect that person by the Immigration Department or otherwise.

I am not suggesting that ALL people who are in this country illegally are involved in some kind of terror network, but in order to prepare ourselves as a nation, we must assume that a significant percentage of them are.

If a hand and mind remain untrained to recognising we share a common goal to fight this 'war on terror', and ineffectual practices are adopted and utilised, these invisible immigrants, who are probably more likely to be related to some terror network or other than legal immigrants, will continue to slip the net.

These people do not wear masks and emblems signifying their aims, nor declare it in an outward expression of intent. The best disguise of our enemy is his ability to blend in within the multitude of people going about the business of leading ordinary lives. And it is a frightening scenario.

Citizens of the UK and US ARE at risk from these people. Action NEEDS to be taken in order to maintain liberties that our ancestors died to protect. But that action should infringe as little as possible on our civil liberties (and indeed, the civil liberties of the innocent Iraqi citizens). And the enforced carrying of identification cards is NOT the way around this problem.

Terrorists will find a way around this very easily, by simply not carrying a card or, if that becomes too obvious or costly, by carrying fake identification. And the rest of us, the vast majority of decent, hardworking citizens are to be tagged like dogs, branded like slaves and labelled like supermarket produce. We are each to carry an identification number, which, when input onto a database, will bring up all sorts of information on us, from where we live, to our credit history, to any criminal record we may have. The government will organise us neatly into categories. We will become part of a giant Venn diagram. At this point, as democracy dies, so does humanity, and we are no longer people, but each of us a list of statistics, easily brought up by typing a few digits into a computer.

The government would truly have us believe that if we each carry these little bits of magnetised plastic, then we will all be perfectly safe.

Let me tell you something, and this will probably come as no great shock to you if you are blessed with a basic smattering of intelligence…

Of course we are not safe! ID cards or no ID cards, at the moment ANY western country with an influx of immigrants is at a risk that a certain percentage of these people could WELL be terrorists, intent on murder and mass atrocity. Is this a risk a developed country should be taking, particularly a country which claims to take care of its’ people?

Do I really need to point out, yet again, that the Spanish were all legally obliged to carry these ID cards before the Madrid terror bombings took place? What good were those little pieces of plastic then, Mr Blair? Did they do ANYTHING at all to even discourage these atrocities? Of course they didn’t. And anyone who truly, hand on heart believes they did, needs to go to Spain and sit and chat with the families of the victims of these despicable actions. How arrogant is Tony Blair to believe these cards will be more effective over here than they have been for our European neighbours?

For the government’s sake, I truly hope that no atrocities take place in this country AFTER we have been imposed upon with these cards, otherwise there will be a serious need for some answers.

Of course, Mr Blair will (hopefully) be long gone by then (2008, I believe is when they are planning to bring in the compulsory carrying of these cards) so he will be able to sit back well out of the limelight while his successor tries to mop up his mess. All planned out nicely for you, isn’t it, Tony?

Don’t get me wrong, I DO want to see terrorism eradicated, but I want to see it done effectively and positively, with as little infringement on my civil liberties as possible. And I truly don’t think that these cards (or the suggestion that we are going to have to pay almost £100 each for them) are the weapon we require to fight this frightening prospect in our midst.

Answer 2

I don't think they are a good thing at all, just another Big Brother tactic , why not go the whole hog and have us all micro-chipped?! ! It only costs £20 (or at least it did when I took my dog to the vet) that way perhaps they could also keep a track of everyone via satellite and detonate the microchips of anyone they didn't like the look of? It would save them the trouble of the police pumping 8 bullets into innocent people's heads - much more cost effective.

Seriously though, what next? What's the point of having a passport if this is now not deemed adequate identification? Anything the government come up with will be flawed and costly. I was labouring under the misapprehension that we lived in a democracy not a dictatorship, the UK is getting more and more like a Soviet State every day.

Answer 3

Reading this it appears it's a concern in both the USA and the United Kingdom

In the USA, the government already has access to banking details... you have to supply your Social Security Number (SSN), and any deposits or withdrawls over $10,000 are reported. This has been in place since the 1980's to deter drug traffiking.

I had a great concern here in California where our Drivers License / State ID cards have a magnetic strip... they recently passed a law that anyone who looked under FORTY years of age would have to have their ID scanned by the seller of tobacco products !!

My concern is that they are collecting data on smokers... how many cigarettes do you purchase, what brand, how often do you purchase them. Simple then for that data to be used against you with medical and insurance companies... and THAT is rather intrusive if not illegal.

Overall, I think the USA needs a standardized form of ID, far more difficult to counterfeit, and the infra-structure to make use of that data to track criminals, terrorists, and illegal workers.

Yes, a dangerous line... but look what has happened without them... give me a suggestion to correct the problems.

Answer 4

It depends on if they also have other details as you say. Our civil liberties are slowly being eroded before our eyes. If ID cards hold our bank details, DNA and other information then no they certainly are not a good thing. The govenment does not need to know everything about its citizens. What if a very right wing party got in and everyone with a non-white gene was told to leave the country or was imprissoned. - It might sound like I am a being a bit of a conspriacy theory nut, but this has happened in European history without as much technology as today. - imagine if the nazi got in with all of our DNA on a database, they could be systematic in irradicating all jews.

If ID cards simply had your name, address and date of birth on them then sure go ahead. It is my fear that they will have much more than this.

Answer 5

Well you can move "concern" up a notch to "down right frightened" as due to the "Patriot Act", the government already has access to your bank records, which is monitored by the National Security Agency, both products of the Bush administration.

We already have government issued ID's, they are in the form of drivers licenses.

Now give a nice wave to the NSA, and let them know they are Number 1, as they are surely reading this due to several "flag" words in the message.

Peace.

Answer 6

Yes they are and in the current climate we should all be carrying one.

The only people that seem to be against having one are the ones that must have Skeletons in their Cupboards.

At least we would find out who the People are that shouldn't be here if they haven't got one Legally.


And as for you worrying about Bank Details ? Why would an ID Card have your bank details on it, You've got a Credit or Bank Card haven't you?

Answer 7

Identity card is just a document to indicate your important biodata. It is handy and safe to own. Imagine U do not have your ID with U when U travel and need help. How does the Police or the Immigration personnel know who U are and where U come from. How could they refer U to the Embassy for help. With your data in the Identity card, it help solve many problems.
In some country, they also indicate your blood group and other medical detail for easy reference when U need medical attention. Do have one for yourself. U will then know how important it is.

Answer 8

It definitely would be a good thing. Everybody already has a government issued ID card in one form or another. Drivers license, social security card, military ID etc etc. I think that people coming into this country on VISA's should also get one that have expiration dates on them. That way we can keep track of when their time is up, instead of like now, when we have no idea where they are.

Answer 9

They only have access to bank details if you give it to them and they enter that into their system, which they don't. Just because it's an ID does not mean it has all information about you. It will just have what they need - name, DOB, address, etc.

Answer 10

Will be the biggest waste of our money ever.They wouldn't have stopped them 4 lads from Beeston would they?They were allready here.I think whichever party introduces these will pay at the polls.I allready have an id card with my photo on,my driving licence,why do i need 2?

Answer 11

I don't know if any ID card will have access to bank records.