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French IdentityCard |
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Polish Identity Card |
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Canadian ID Card
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Egyptian ID Card |
I like to travel light at all times. Only two keys - house and car, one small wallet with minimal loose change. The real heft in my wallet is the pack of plastic cards. When I was asked for my co op card yesterday, it was a struggle to find it amongst 12 cards in my wallet. Two bank cards and a credit card, driving license, blood donor card, entitlement card for free bus travel, mountaineering council card, rail card, oyster card, Screwfix card and Nectar card. What a palaver, and you should see Aileen's cards - there are well over 20 with a big shuffle of all the store cards.
Almost all of these cards are a means of sharing our identity with banks, stores, companies and some government agencies. Is it any surprise that we are besieged with promotional e-mails and harangued by cold-calling companies who have gained our details from private financial or store companies? Clearly, our personal data is being sold on, and it makes me question how much trust we should have in the organisations that I have provided with my identity data.
Yet it is a curious fact in Britain that we refuse to have a national identity card that would be invaluable in tackling so many issues, from gun crime to insurance scams. I understand the arguments for privacy and civil liberties, but should these take precedence over the need for a universal identity card based on a unique citizen reference number? It would provide a consistent record of our citizens that could be used to share information between different agencies, such as the police, health, education and social work, but under strict control by information protocols. Such a scheme, proposed by David Blunkett, was rejected by the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives in the 2010 coalition government and has been rejected by the SNP government in Scotland. The Lib Dems boasted about saving money, but £292m had already been spent on its introduction by the previous Labour government.
The only comprehensive records are the NHS ki numbers and these are far from perfect. Many patients, particularly students and mobile young adults, are logged into different GP practices. It explains why, according to NHS records, there are always more patients than people. The same could not be said about the electorate, people do not register out of either apathy or because they regard it as an intrusion that may lead to tax demands and like National Insurance numbers, they are only for adults. No wonder there are several million people disenfranchised.
A national identity card, such as that developed in most European countries, and many countries around the world are introducing them, could overcome the current difficulties at a stroke. It could replace a driving license, be required for voting, payroll purposes, access to the NHS, and provide age identification. If address information was included, it could be used as an entitlement card for local services or to obtain discounts from local retailers and hospitality businesses. It would also help with immigration control and the exploitation of illegal immigrants by rogue employers. We should not let the fear of privacy from our moribund governments in Westminster and Holyrood scupper the many benefits that could accrue to citizens and government departments, and agencies.
Unfortunately, our governments are wedded to allowing their numerous departments and agencies to collect dozens of data sets that are incomplete, incapable of being linked up and seldom maintained with the integrity that is required for the effective management of services. In Scotland, we have a lightweight entitlement card that is mainly used for free bus travel for the elderly and disabled, and to give access to services for young people. It is far from universal, and it has to be applied for by citizens. It could do so much more, but the Scottish Government have not dared to make it universal and extend its use to voting, or the NHS; perhaps they are waiting for Westminster?, The picture of George Orwell as Winston Smith in the promotional material is a hint that, like Winston Smith, we may never catch up.
If we are to get there one day, we need to disrupt the timidness of our outdated democratic institutions and the fourth estate. It means tackling the British disease of hiding behind reviews, inquiries and an uncoded constitution that strangles progress.
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Scotland's Access Card |