Roland Perry on 08 April 2004 at 02:11 said:-
> They see that criminals have *more* to hide. And it's that
> balance of power that makes them agree to the ID checks. Just
> as everyone (well almost everyone) is happy to have their
> bags x-rayed at the airport.
A difficulty in accepting that approach is defining criminal - something
legislative bodies everywhere practice for various reasons more or less
daily and yet they do fail to differentiate white collar crime from 'real'
crime.
Is the key determining element fear within the population, or the power of
the authority which makes people agree? With resident criminals having an
ID prior to committing a crime, unless that is removed after the event,
perhaps replaced with another with a big 'C' stamped upon it, I see no real
crime benefit over what exists today. Quite the contrary, show the card,
walk away and get another card/ID. Ahh, I see further checks are needed.
> Data should only be gathered and processed from the ID card
> in ways that are compatible with DPA principles (which have
> law enforcement exemptions, but I digress).
Are you saying use of the ID is restricted to legitimate, state enabled
purposes in line with the US constitution or DP type principles?
> What makes you think that private sector businesses will have
> the equipment to read the data from the chip (or in the case
> of one of my ID cards, the WORM, and in the case of another,
> a 2D "barcode" on the back)? Or that even if they can read
> the data that it's not encrypted to the original "owner"
> (passport office, hospital etc).
Given the strongly market orientated US culture I find it difficult to
comprehend large companies not accessing material held on or within an ID
card for their purposes. Look at the availability of personalised
prescription information. Your story seems to indicate that that particular
material would never have been available for anything other than the
medication of the data subject.
From the picture you elucidate either US society has given up its strongly
individualistic culture sustained by a vigorously protected constitution
without a whimper and (even more difficult to understand!) any media
coverage or film. Or the energetic whisperings of those who should know
better have influenced some citizens into denying many of their rights are
worth thinking about protecting. I could have found that situation more
understandable within the UK, where subjects have traditionally understood
subjugation, but am having great difficulty in bringing the concept into a
clear focus within a different cultural tradition, which was founded upon
the writings of a minority group.
Roland Perry on 08 April 2004 at 13:13 said:-
> The passport office has coped with this, and I'm not sure
> anyone has suggested that the ID card needs to be more
> authoritative than a passport. Of course, if it *is* to be an
> entitlement card, then it makes sense to check things like
> lifetime NI contributions against the claimed identity. This
> and other similar checks might help ensure there's only one
> person "using" each identity.
Authoritarianism is not the only issue, with passports being external and ID
internal, there seems to be an indication of a distinct difference in
revenue maintenance costs. Something which is proposed to be in daily use
for a variety of purposes is more likely to be lost/stolen than an item
which is amongst large portions of the population only used occasionally.
But I suppose there will be fines and things for loosing an ID, allowing it
to be stolen, or used by somebody else.
Have issues like - reliance on authority can result in a dependent society
requiring constant mothering, and the research conducted into anonymity and
how that can actually strengthen identity management (Postmes & Spears 1998)
been found to be invalid?
Ian W
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