British National ID Card scheme crippled without card readers

Davey Winder
Sunday, 08 February 2009 15:02

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

Identity Minister Meg Hillier has dismissed the controversy, arguing that individual police forces can decide when they want to invest in card readers.

She told Silicon.com that "There's no prospect in the immediate future for the government directing anybody that you have to buy those things [readers] because we would be placing a burden on these organisations."

Meanwhile, the official Government Home Office ID Card information site continues to shout about how the cards "will be linked to their owners by unique biometric information" and how this is essential "to ensure that your card is really yours, and to protect you from identity theft."

The whole thing gets even more farcical though, with that same Identity Minister also going on record to claim that it is up to the manufacturers of card readers to "decide whether it is worth their while to produce them."

Maybe we can apply this logic to the cards themselves, with individual citizens deicing when or if it is worthwhile carrying them.

According to campaign group NO2ID even some local councils are rebelling against ID Cards. One, in Reading, has said it opposes the introduction of the cards, does not believe they will be effective against terrorism and thought the cost is an "unjustifiable waste of money."