No to ID cards. No matter what step-by-step approach is taken. If it is to be “consumer demand” that drives take up of ID cards, then make then completely voluntary, with no compulsion involved in any way at all. otherwise it really isn’t “consumer demand” but government imposition.

Especially since the Home Secretary really doesn’t seem to get the real issue. It’s not about having a physical ID card or the same information on a passport – but the government having our information at all. They seem to have no comprehension it is this database culture that is the largest issue. Having to carry an ID card is part of it, but not all that much in comparison.

And what is scariest is the inability of government to protect our data. Not just this government, but the entire institution of government. This government is specific, though, since Jacqui Smith doesn’t seem to get the idea of data privacy, defending her database because it “won’t be on the internet”. Yes, she really said that, forgetting that data privacy exists anyway. And since it will presumably be on the government intranet, it is obviously be open to good and persistent enough hackers.