ID and ego

More news – and apposite comment from Tim W – on one of the worst elements of Blair’s middling legacy.

I’m not a closed-minded person. Honest. But I still haven’t heard a single good argument for ID cards (or for the even scarier mega-database behind them).

Supporters make two main arguments. First, they say that ID cards will cut the massive cost of benefit fraud. But the vast majority of this fraud is based not on people pretending to be someone they’re not, but on them lying about their situation, e.g. that they have five kids or one arm. Identity theft is also a bigger problem in countries that have ID cards, by the way.

Second, in an attempt to get The Sun onside, Home Office press officers go on about how ID cards will help track foreigners coming into this country and prevent terrorism (often conflating the two). But only Brits or long-term residents will have to get an ID card in the first place, so ID-less visitors can still come and go as they please. And there’s no explanation of how exactly ID cards will stop people blowing themselves and others up. It’s even hard to see what help ID cards might be able to provide after a terrorist incident – it’s not like we’ve had difficulties identifying who was behind 7/7, despite our current lack of ID cards.

And don’t get me started on where the vast sums of money could be better spent, the minuscule chances of the IT system working, why we don’t let some other lucky country try all this first so we can learn from their mistakes, the massive civil liberties issues, etc. A really poor idea all round. Boo.