U.K identity cards: an overview, from the Economist [priv]

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
Date: July 4, 2005 2:08:22 PM EDT
To: politech () politechbot com
Subject: [Politech] U.K identity cards: an overview, from the  
Economist [priv]




http://economist.com/world/europe/displayStory.cfm?story_id=4134025

Magic plastic
Jun 30th 2005
From The Economist print edition

TO BOOSTERS, they promise to ease everything from race relations to  
opening a bank account. To critics, they are a costly affront to free- 
born Englishmen, a looming technological disaster and a political  
millstone—plastic equivalents of the poll tax, which tipped Margaret  
Thatcher out of power 15 years ago. This week's preliminary vote in  
the House of Commons on a bill to establish a national identity card  
means it is only a matter of time before Britons find out who is right.

If the government's plans stay on track, Britons will, within three  
years, begin to receive cards containing personal details, together  
with a digital photograph, fingerprints and an iris scan. A nation  
that has not possessed identity cards since 1952 will, in a step,  
acquire the world's most complex system.

At the heart of the scheme is a national identity register, which  
will record basic personal details: name, sex, date and place of  
birth, address, nationality, immigration status and the numbers of  
documents such as driver's licences and passports.

[...remainder snipped...]
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