ID Cards update

Big Brother Watch details the ways in which Gordon Brown's totalitarian Labour government intends to force segments of the population to take an ID card. Meanwhile Victor Cardiss in the comments remarks that:

"two hundred and sixty countries are introducing the same Biometric ID card, yet they insist an calling it a 'national' ID card.
The same private, American company will administer the database in each country (though it may have a different name in each).
By the time it becomes compulsory you'll need it for everything and you'll look like a bit of a Ludite for not wanting one. It will however have so many problems that the government will have to come up with an incredible, global solution.... The personal ID Chip!
(http://www.wethepeoplewillnotbechipped.com/main/news.php)"

Not a huge demand then!

On 25 January Alan Johnson proudly declared that

"Since 20 October, and up to and including 16 January, over 3,700 applicants have been enrolled or have made an enrolment appointment for an identity card."

Yesterday Meg Hillier revealed that:

"as of 3 March 2010 there have been 4,307 applications for identity cards from people living in the north-west of England, including Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Merseyside, Lancashire and Cumbria."

So in the seven weeks between these two answers a maximum of 606 applications were made, that's 86 a week or under 14.5 a day (assuming a six day week). At that rate the whole UK would be signed up in around 13,500 years, which oddly enough is when Gordon Brown's legacy of debt will be paid off.

The future?

Could this be the prototype of the National Identity Registry front-end?

ID cards, still a live issue

I see that:

"Residents in Manchester will become the first people in Britain to be able to apply for ID cards.

They can now directly apply to attend appointments from November 30 to have their photograph and fingerprints taken for the £30 cards at Manchester's passport office.

Junior Home Office Minister Meg Hillier said the cards would be particularly useful for students and young people as they would "save the cost and hassle" of getting into clubs and bars.

Anyone over 16 in the city with a UK passport can apply for a card.

Ms Hillier told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Really for a lot of people it's a day-to-day convenience thing.

"For a lot of young people ... they often take their passports to prove their identity in nightclubs and bars and the Passport Service sweeps these up every week. So for a lot of people it'll save the cost and hassle of taking your passport, risking losing it and instead you've got this very convenient little credit-sized card. I've got one and it's very useful.""

Do read the whole piece and wonder if anyone will fall for the crap that Labour ministers still insist on spouting about the ID card scheme. Remember that Gordon Brown's announcement to the Labour Conference that "in the next Parliament there will be no compulsory ID cards for British citizens" was the same misleading line that ministers have been spewing for years. The ID card scheme was designed so as to force people to "volunteer" for a system that they can never then leave. Be under no illusions that before long you will be forced to register for an ID card when you apply for a passport or, before too long, for any officially-designated document.

The National Identity Register is still a target of the Labour government, a government that will not be happy until we are all traceable 24 hours a day. Our every move, our every action, our every piece of correspondence and interaction recorded, stored and retrievable by the State and its functionaries. The Stasi would have loved to have had just 10% of the information that our new rulers will have about each and every one of us.

The Mallorca bomb

I just don't understand, how did the bombers strike in Mallorca when the Spanish have an id card system? It just doesn't make any sense...

Database Britain (part xx)

The totalitarian instincts of this most vile Labour government seem to know no bounds. The latest revelation is that:

"Personal data gathered for the controversial ID cards scheme will be made available to the taxman.

HM Revenue and Customs officials will be able to trawl through a person's financial transactions for hints of any undeclared earnings or bank accounts.

...

The powers that give 'Commissioners for Revenue and Customs' access to the ID cards audit log were buried away in orders laid before Parliament earlier this week - at the same time as the full extent of the expenses scandal was emerging.

The log records each time a card has been used to verify a person's identity when they make a big value purchase, open a bank account or take out a mortgage.

If a large number of verifications for big items are recorded, it could signal to the taxman a person earns more money than they declared. Undeclared second homes could also lead to higher tax payments. "

As usual it is No2ID that cut to the heart of the matter:

"Phil Booth, of the NO2ID campaign, said: 'The big lie of the ID scheme is that it's for our benefit - the detail shows it's all about giving the bureaucrats and bean-counters more control.' "

Jacqui Smith, ID Cards and the BBC

The Register track the BBC's "reporting" of the ID cards story last week. I wish I could say it was unbelievable, unfortunately it is in fact all too predictable. The BBC are increasingly moving from being just the propaganda arm of this Labour government to being its means of attack. This state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue, so what is to be done?

Jackboot Jacqui?

The BBC report that:

"Supermarkets could be asked to take people's fingerprints as part of the government's identity card scheme.

The Home Office is talking to retailers and the Post Office about setting up booths to gather biometric data.

It comes as Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced ID cards would be issued to airside workers at Manchester and London City airport from late 2009."

What the BBC don't report is what Guido Fawkes is reporting, that:

"Jacqui Smith gave a speech today at midday on ID cards to an audience invited by the Social Market Foundation, at the end of the event the glass she was drinking from during the Q & A was whisked away* by a NO2ID sympathiser... the glass is now undergoing a technical process at an undisclosed location. This will not only identify Big Jacqui's fingerprints, it will allow them to create a plastic foil stamp that will enable anyone to leave her fingerprints behind."

Don't worry jacqui - as you and your associates keep telling us - "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear".

Mandelson and Blunkett

On 5 October I reported that:

"the news today that "Gordon Brown plans to bring David Blunkett back into the Cabinet" is beyond belief. David Blunkett, the man who like Peter Mandelson had to resign twice; first as Home Secretary in 2004 over claims that he used his office to speed up a visa for the nanny of his lover, Kimberly Quinn and second in 2005 as Work and Pensions Secretary when he admitted he had breached the ministerial code by not getting clearance for three posts he took on after leaving the Cabinet. Blunkett sounds like just the man to bring a sheen of honesty and competence to this Labour government and he would be happy to bring in absolutely any population surveillance measures deemed necessary for the defence of the Labour government country, this would be right his authoritarian street."

Today I read in The Mail that:

" David Blunkett is poised for an accelerated return to Government after holding talks with Gordon Brown about taking on a role as party troubleshooter.

Following discussions at Downing Street, the former Home Secretary told friends he was expecting ‘the call’ from the Prime Minister last Tuesday.

However, negotiations are believed to have stalled at the last minute because Mr Blunkett is holding out for a full Cabinet position."

The Mail continues with this laughable claim:

"Aides have since urged him to speed up the process, arguing Mr Blunkett’s humble origins and inspiring ‘back story’ would be an effective weapon against the ‘privileged’ Tories."

"Inspiring back story", would that be his resignations over impropriety? Maybe they mean his position as Chair of the International Advisory Committee to Entrust Inc, a company pushing for work on the ID cards scheme that he is so in favour of?

Mandelson and Blunkett, Draper and Campbell - it must be just like old times in Downing Street as Gordon Brown gathers around him those who spun and slimed their way into Government in the past in an attempt to hold onto power for himself. If "by their friends ye shall know them", then I think we know all we need to know about these particular "gentlemen".

Another Labour Government IT security disaster

The Government Gateway IT system has been compromised. A USB memory stick containing user information and access passwords was found in a pub car park. As a result the Government has had to order an emergency shutdown of a key Government computer system to protect millions of people's private details. Not good timing as people frantically try to register their tax returns on-line after the official deadline of 31 October and before the unofficial deadline of 3 November.

You can read more in The Mail.

This Labour government's record on IT system implementation and IT security has been abysmal, the ID card/National Identity Register and the NHS IT project have wasted too much money and as we cannot be assured as to their integrity they should be scrapped forthwith.

Peter Mandelson is telling half the oligarch story; ID cards will be next Labour deception

Philip Johnston in The Telegraph writes about Peter Mandelson, here's an extract:

"As Lord Mandelson said, in his position it was inevitable that he would meet industrialists, financiers and businessmen like Mr Deripaska. This is undoubtedly true, though why it is also necessary to go on holiday with them is not fully explained.

He promises to be more careful in future: by this he means more circumspect about those with whom he consorts, rather than less cavalier with the facts.

Indeed, this whole business has followed the template drawn up at the birth of "New Labour", of which Lord Mandelson was one of the proud parents. It does not necessarily tell outright lies (OK, it does, just not all the time) but nor does it ever tell the whole truth."

and how the Labour government are trying to justify and will try to keep on with the ID card scheme. What Philp Johnston does not explain is that the ID card scheme is all about the National Identity Register and further controlling the UK public.

And they want to run a National ID Register

The Telegraph reports that

"Thousands of Cambridgeshire residents have had their nationality changed to Guyanese, after a computer glitch at their local council.

Around 3,000 people were sent documents to say they had been listed as originally from Guyana, in South America, on the electoral roll.

The mistake, which happened as the files were being updated, affected people whose nationality had previously been listed as "unknown" on the records.

When new computer software was brought in to help modernise the system, it refused to acknowledge the word "unknown" and automatically changed it to "Guyanese"."

And yet this most discredited Government still think they can implement a National Identity Register, the words piss-up in a brewery come to mind. Most governments, whether national or local, are incompetent - it's just the degree of incompetence that needs deciding.

That's an 84% improvement, well done Labour"

The BBC report that

"Sensitive data potentially affecting more than four million people was lost by government departments in the year to April, BBC analysis has found.

Whitehall departments have included details of personal information losses in their annual financial statements.

Cases included the theft of a laptop with details of 17,000 Sats markers, and the loss of the National Insurance numbers of a further 17,000 people."

Following the loss of the details of 25 million child benefit claimants in the previous year, we were promised that lessons would be learnt and that security would be tightened. I suppose that a 84% drop in the volumes lost is an improvement, although that will be of little comfort to the four million whose details were lost this year.

Meanwhile the Labour Government presses ahead with the National Identity Register (and ID cards), the NHS "Spine" and the DNA database; all programmes with huge security of access queries.

ID cards - a security update

The Times reports that:

"New microchipped passports designed to be foolproof against identity theft can be cloned and manipulated in minutes and accepted as genuine by the computer software recommended for use at international airports.

Tests for The Times exposed security flaws in the microchips introduced to protect against terrorism and organised crime. The flaws also undermine claims that 3,000 blank passports stolen last week were worthless because they could not be forged.

In the tests, a computer researcher cloned the chips on two British passports and implanted digital images of Osama bin Laden and a suicide bomber. The altered chips were then passed as genuine by passport reader software used by the UN agency that sets standards for e-passports."

What a surprise, this government's forays into IT systems have been marked by the almost complete lack of success of the projects.

It is not as though the procedures used were difficult or costly, as the Times report continues:

"Using his own software, a publicly available programming code, a £40 card reader and two £10 RFID chips, Mr van Beek took less than an hour to clone and manipulate two passport chips to a level at which they were ready to be planted inside fake or stolen paper passports.

A baby boy’s passport chip was altered to contain an image of Osama bin Laden, and the passport of a 36-year-old woman was changed to feature a picture of Hiba Darghmeh, a Palestinian suicide bomber who killed three people in 2003. The unlikely identities were chosen so that there could be no suggestion that either Mr van Beek or The Times was faking viable travel documents."

The Government response was as usual in direct opposition to the evidence:

"The Home Office said last night that it had yet to see evidence of someone being able to manipulate data in an e-passport. A spokesman said: “No one has yet been able to demonstrate that they are able to modify, change or alter data within the chip. If any data were to be changed, modified or altered it would be immediately obvious to the electronic reader.”"

We are all guilty

A report commissioned by the Human Genetics Commission said the DNA profiles of one million innocent people which are currently stored on the national database should be destroyed. Unfortunately this authoritarian Labour government will not rest until every one of us has our details on a DNA database, carry an ID card, is monitored 24/7 and is chipped so our movements are tracked. Take a trip to No2ID for details of how to oppose the ID card and National Identity Register aspects of Labour totalitarianism. Go soon before access to such sites is banned.

UK-wide consultation

The government are conducting a UK-wide consultation on the National Identity Register (and the associated ID cards), in reality the only people allowed to attend the meetings are those that have been invited and the legislation is already in place so the only consultation is over how to enforce/encourage the implementation.

Here is the BBC's story that

"Nine people have been charged with breach of the peace following an incident at a meeting about ID cards in Edinburgh.

There were protests as a Home Office minister was meeting business leaders and local government officials to outline the proposals.

Activists were removed by police and nine have been charged.

The event was part of a UK-wide consultation which allows organisations to give feedback on the plans."

Here is No2ID's take on the same story.

David Davis?

Rumours abound that the shadow home secretary, David Davis, is set to resign as an MP thus triggering a by-election. This is very surprising news. Whether there is a scandal that he is trying to avoid or if this is the most incredible stunt re his opposition to the 42 days vote I do not know. A statement is due soon.


Update: Sky are reporting that:

"Shadow home secretary David Davis has resigned as an MP apparently to highlight his opposition to the detention of terror suspects for 42 days without charge. His resignation will trigger a by-election which he will fight on the grounds that he is against government's increasing intrusion into the public's lives."

Update 2: David Davis is standing down to "take a stand" to "force a by-election". I will fight it on the grounds of "the slow strangulation of ... freedom." "Ever intrusive .. loss of freedom...". "If they do send me back here, it will be with a single message: that this monstrous law will not stand."


An incredible step to take and how this play out I cannot predict....


Did David Cameron know about this in advance? A statement is due from him within the hour. David Davis is a very independently minded man of principle and he may have not agreed it with David Cameron.

This is one of those moments that the deck of cards is thrown in the air and we do not know how they will fall. A truly exciting moment in British politics.


Update 3:
Lib Dems will not contest the by-election so as to make it a straight fight on the issue - if it can...

This is moving very fast, too fast? Can you imagine the panic at Number 10, what should they say and do?

Data security

Apparently the Home Office still has little idea about data security. It seems that the Home Office's crime reduction website was hijacked and used to try and defraud the public out of money by changing it to that of a pretend Italian bank.

The Home Office has responded by beginning a review of website security.

An they think that they are capable of running a secure National Identity Register, I think not.

Eleventh winner of the weekly "No shit, Sherlock" award

I know the week eleven prize is not due yet but this BBC headline could not go unrewarded:

"ID cards 'could threaten privacy'"

Read the article here. I will be logging more about ID cards soon.

"ID cards 'could threaten privacy'"

No shit, Sherlock

"Show me your ID"

The future is already here, see this video twice between 0:57 and 1:07...






Can you imagine how much worse it would be when we have to carry our ID cards?



The sneering "shut-up" at 3:55 and 3:56 are also quite lovely, if I had been the photographer I woukld have reported CPSO 7166.