Talk about an unwelcome arrival. The Government has unveiled a small piece of plastic which represents a big threat to our historic liberties. The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, was showing off Britain's first biometric ID cards yesterday. From November, the cards will be issued to foreign students from outside the European Union and to marriage visa holders. According to Ms Smith: "We want to be able to prevent those here illegally from benefiting from the privileges of Britain."
The hundreds of thousands of irregular migrants who work in Britain's black economy will find that reference to the "privileges of Britain" rather rich. The truth is that irregular workers tend to go to extreme lengths to avoid any form of contact with the British state. They do not consult doctors, complain to the police of routine mistreatment, or claim benefits because they fear being deported. Rather than looking for another way to make life more difficult for such people (the vast majority of whom are simply looking to better their lives in a country with a ready supply of work), the Government should be considering an amnesty, as proposed by Anthony Browne in this newspaper today.
That said, we should not be distracted from what is really going on here. ID cards are not about migrant workers, but about all of us. The Government is preparing for its planned nationwide roll-out of ID cards in 2011 by first imposing them on one of the most reviled groups in our society. It is the thin edge of the wedge.
But we should not submit to such underhand tactics. The stupidity of forcing through this costly scheme as Britain enters an economic downturn should be obvious. The Government has stretched the public finances to the limit. To embark on a £4.7bn ID card project at such a time is fiscally irresponsible.
The public mood has also hardened since the Government first hit upon the idea. Who can have witnessed the carelessness with which the state has treated our personal data in the past year and still feel confident about handing over such sensitive information to officialdom?
Yet the most powerful argument against ID cards remains one of principle. The idea that we should routinely have to carry around a piece of card to prove who we are is an outrage. Even if Britain was still economically booming and the Government had an impeccable record of protecting our personal information, these cards would be unconscionable. Nothing has changed. We do not need ID cards and anyone who wishes to defend our freedoms should stand up and tell the Government so with a clear voice.
We're back to the obvious answer: encryption.
It's not that difficult to put into place and, to be honest, I would have thought it should be a mandatory thing for businesses, government departments and any place that holds personal information.
We're back to the obvious answer: encryption.
It's not that difficult to put into place and, to be honest, I would have thought it should be a mandatory thing for businesses, government departments and any place that holds personal information.
Not long ago the British government said we had to hand over the key if we were to use 128 bit encryption, and furthermore the USA put an embargo on the export of the same.
It's common enough now but perhaps we should be consulted before we allow our employers and government to store our data, and we should be party to the way it is stored.
I thought the worst loss of data is the RAF data that contains the whereabouts of all personnel that have flown bombers over Iraq and the Falklands etc.
Our great masters should not be put in charge of a winkle stall, (W S Churchill I think).
The Information Commissioner's Office has released a survey of 1,000 people across the UK, which it claims shows that the public has 'woken up' to privacy. Whilst the survey itself is a huge set of figures (28 pages of them, a real treat for stats fans), an ICO press release and a BBC News article help shed some light on the survey's implications. Most notably, over 70% of those surveyed felt powerless over how their personal data is looked after (see page 3 of the survey) and over 85% refuse to give personal data when given the option.
"It would also require anyone who had encrypted information stored on their computer to hand over the decryption key. Anyone who refused would face up to two years in jail."
Let us not forget that our elected representatives will lock us up if we do not accede to their wishes.
"New doubts about the Government's ability to hold data safely were raised yesterday after figures showed that the Home Office and Ministry of Justice had lost or had stolen 3,492 security passes since 2001 – more than one a day."
A dear old pal called on me today and remarked that his bus pass had the wrong image on it, what do you mean said I. Out came the pass and sure enough his name but someone else's face, about the same age (mid seventies) white beard but the powers that be got it all wrong somehow.
Funny enough the bus drivers don't seem to mind and he has been promised another with the correct picture "very soon".
We must not trust our leaders to respect our information and identity.
amenity, this is not a crazy as it seems.
a few years ago, (before 9/11) we went abroad to menorca for a quick week away on one of them last minuet.com holidays.
book, pack, go.........
at the customs, we held out our passports for inspection, and was waved through.
at the car rental desk, i showed my passport, and it was refused, i wondered why ?
i was using my wifes without knowing it..... ...lol
my nearest and most expensive was holding mine... .
now, no jokes please about my moaning like an old woman,
as the wife will bash you......... .........lol
The customs men must go by body language or something, recently a friend was going abroad with a party of acquaintances and when he was asked "did you pack this case yourself" he truthfully said "NO". A huge intake of breath followed by "Would you step this way sir".
Of course as he said later, jokingly, "why bark and have a dog yourself".
But worse still unable to control his constant jokes, as the rest of the party was strolling through the barrier he said " I'm just the decoy the guilty have gone through"
I forgot to say for his cheek, they threw away all of his precious shampoo, toothpaste and liquid soap, which his loving other half had so carefully packed.
On a more serious note, its all about to get worse.
"Britain's security agencies and police would be given unprecedented and legally binding powers to ban the media from reporting matters of national security, under proposals being discussed in Whitehall."
I forgot to say for his cheek, they threw away all of his precious shampoo, toothpaste and liquid soap, which his loving other half had so carefully packed.
A few years ago, our family all flew to Florida.
Wondefull holliday destination, even had a stock car track in the car park of Disney...you could hear the rent - a stocks going round,
part of the Richard petty driving experiance..
music to my ears, 7 litre tuned V 8`s with no silecers just doing the laps...
anyoldhoo,
we flew into Sandford airport, a small onetime only Florida airport.
We collected our car and drove.
Had a brillient 2 weeks.
When it was time to return, with time on our hands, we arrived at Sandford too early, only to find hardly anyone there to meet us.
We booked in all on our own....WRONG....
We were weighed, prodded, poked and had declared,
you are all overweight,
so our luggage was looked into with microscopic precision.
We too left all out fluid type things we purchased at bargain prices....
The security personel looked so happy,
not so happy as the rubbish bin cleaners who emptied the newly filled bin with our purchases......
He must have been the cleanest, nicest smelling worker at Sandford Airport.....
amenity, i have spoken of this before but in jamaica, the obituries sections of there newspapers, its more or less in 3 age groups.
10 - 18 year olds
25 - 35 year olds
60 - whatever god grants them...
the 1st section was drug related
the second lack of drug related - diabetes etc
the 3rd, great grandads and grandnans loved by most..
we in our world expect to recieve most treatments for free, prescriptions excepted, unless illness or age or confinement untill giving birth and after.
the working class pay N I stamp , ok not stamp no longer, but insurance payments taken from, or given when requested to our great ? system.
note i said our working classes, if we, our country, is overwhelmed by better life seeking immigrants, who come with illness and or confinment, then take adantage of our free for all health system, at what point does the drain on our resources start to not only hurt, but bl**dy sting as well.
I could go on and on, but will not, but for saying, it took me many years while working to pay into gov,uk`s money pot almost, very nearly the maximum, just a tickle from the top, of the maximum needed for full uk retirement pension.
but, while working although quite ill really, it took years for correct diagnosis via one of the best hospitalls in the uk for endocrine illness.
for me, why did i have to wait for so long....i feel bitter about it really
the good side is i now have my weekly carrier bag of medications to keep me "alive" ?...lol
most of them jamaicans never could afford their carrier bag of monthly medications who died of diabetes type illness while still could have had so much time to live...
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...lol
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.........lol