UK Gov't To Require ID Cards For Some Foreign Residents 216
craigavonite, writing "It's looking like the UK is in for biometric ID cards within the next few years, despite widespread protest from groups such as 'NO2ID,'" excerpts from an article at the BBC describing a UK identify card to be issued starting later this year: "The biometric card will be issued from November, initially to non-EU students and marriage visa holders. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said the cards would allow people to 'easily and securely prove their identity.' Critics say the roll-out to some immigrants is a 'softening up' exercise for the introduction of identity cards for everyone."
the opposing group is "No2ID" (Score:4, Interesting)
As in "say no to ID". Makes a lot more sense doesn't it?
Re:Big Fricken Whoop De Woo (Score:5, Interesting)
If someone gets hold of my finger prints, what do I do then?
From what I've seen with biometrics previously, I doubt that your fingerprint would be stored in any sort of image-like or exportable form. Normally, a hash is taken based on your fingerprint (think GPG singing) and that hash is stored. It's a one way calculation, you can't then turn that hash back into a fingerprint but you can verifiy another fingerprint to the hash.
Re:Big Fricken Whoop De Woo (Score:2, Interesting)
Your fingerprints are all over the place anyway, so why would anybody go through lots of trouble to "steal" them?
Which brings us nicely to the fundamental problem with biometrics. Biometrics provide identity. They do not provide authentication.
Re:So? (Score:4, Interesting)
What's wrong with carrying an ID card?
Well, some people (who, presumably, live in the woods, don't have bank account, don't drive a car and never leave the country) just object on principle. Personally, I don't see that one: in this world you need to prove your identity from time to time, and without having a "proper" identity scheme we end up using all sorts of inappropriate kludges (e.g. banks tend to ask for a gas or electricity bill).
Then there's the fear of police having the power to stop people and demand "papers". Now, that's a legitimate fear demanding eternal vigilance and all that but its really got naff all to do with ID cards: there's nothing fundamental about ID cards which says that police have to be given the power to inspect them. Plus, if the Fascists take over then it will take them a whole week to print and issue "papers".
Now we get to the more serious objections - primarily "mission creep". If the Government were simply rolling out a better alternative to current "ad hoc" methods of identity checking then it wouldn't be so bad. However, these are being touted as the answer to terrorism, fraud, illegal immigrants, healthcare provision and whatever was on the front page of the Daily Mail yesterday. Consequently, more and more bells and whistles are being added, meaning more and more information about individuals will be gathered to protect us against the barbarians at the gate, but will probably end up being used to police dog fouling [bbc.co.uk].
Finally, even if the conspiracy theorists are right, the government's track record on large IT projects doesn't bode well. (1984 is scary enough, but Brazil is even scarier!) Currently, we're getting almost daily stories of government departments losing laptops, CDs and memory sticks containing personal information, which doesn't help.
Feature creep (Score:4, Interesting)
At present I carry a passport, a driving licence, another chipped card for the tacho in the truck and various other cards for entitlement to drive various machinery.
The lame brained would say it is more convenient to have all the relevant data stored on one card. I disagree.
If I travel to a foreign country, I need a passport and maybe my driving licence (to hire a car). If I don't travel, I don't need the passport - why should I prove my entitlement to travel if I am in my native country ? Why should I open my complete life to inspection every time I "prove" my identity. The passport application process surely proves my right to be here. My driving licence proves my entitlement to drive on public roads in the UK, why should it identify me to the immigration dept. too ?
There will gradually be feature creep in the system leading to even your bank cards migrating onto this one evil card. Fine you say, less to carry around. Except that you will be required to use it more and more to gain access to anything. This means your entire life is recorded - which roads you used and when, what you bought and where, who was nearby when you drove and or bought anything etc etc.
The question you should be asking is not, can the cards be forged ? The question should be - can the system be hacked ?
Is there anybody here that thinks that any networked computer can be hack proof ? In that case, what happens when somebody breaks in and uses YOUR primary key to create a totally ficticious chain of events placing you in the vicinity of a robbery, murder, terrorist act, or even in the same building as other known criminals. As far as the police are concerned, the system doesn't lie and since your card contains your finger prints, it can't be anyone other than you that the records refer to. Not a problem ? Well not a problem until you are late for a train and they think you are about to set off a bomb and decide to shoot first and ask questions later. Quite a bit of incentive for terrorists there I think. Create a false trail for themselves, showing nothing but innocent activity, and a damning trail for some innocent who will be miles away from the action but conveniently will have the police trailing them, not the terrorists.
Bad idea.
Re:Big Fricken Whoop De Woo (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't know how much of this really works the way he described it, but this seems to be a very good reason to introduce id cards...
Re:Big Fricken Whoop De Woo (Score:4, Interesting)
I personally think its a better idea to stop giving money to people simply because they're in our country and have a nigerian passport.
so almost exactly a US green card (Score:1, Interesting)
But instead if a finger print, it's stored on a chip.
Beware Japanese CJS... (Score:1, Interesting)
You might want to factor in the biased, outdated, unfair Japanese criminal justice system