News
This is by no means a comprehensive list, and with more and more people discussing ID cards (which can only be a good thing) I'm not able to keep up; fortunately the folk over at NO2ID are keeping up, so please check out their news blog for recent stories.
- 04/09/05 - Criminals to 'adapt to ID cards'
- 12/08/05 - Gov.UK preps ID card contracts
- 10/08/05 - BCS concerns over ID cards raised in commons debate
- 08/08/05 - ID cards: Home Office pursued over LSE rebuttal
- 07/08/05 - Faith groups' fears add to ID card trouble
- 07/08/05 - Brown's cash misgivings add to identity confusion
- 27/07/05 - Flawed ID card plan ignores past lessons
- 04/08/05 - Labour steps back in push for ID cards
- 04/08/05 - Labour admits ID card oversell
- 04/08/05 - Government admits overselling ID cards
- 04/08/05 - Minister admits ID card benefits were exaggerated
- 09/07/05 - Treasury study shows Brown's ID card doubts
- 08/07/04 - PA Consulting paid £12m for ID cards scheme
This information was released under the Freedom of Information Act and the total spent so far is apparently £17m. The bill hasn't even reached a third reading in the House of Commons yet. Good grief.
- 08/07/05 - ID cards 'wouldn't stop attacks'
- 05/07/05 - Clarke's ID card cost laundry starts to break surface
- 05/07/05 - ID cards academic attacks Clarke
- 04/07/05 - Eight out of 10 fear ID fiasco is on the cards
- 01/07/05 - Biometrics won't deter passport fraudsters, chief admits
- 29/06/05 - ID cards halve Labour majority
- 29/06/05 - Did your MP rebel on ID cards?
- 29/06/05 - Blair 'will listen' to ID fears
- 29/06/05 - MPs narrowly back ID cards plan
- 28/06/05 - 'It is going to be a catastrophe' - The legislation is rapidly losing supporters as cost estimates soar
- 28/06/05 - What data will ID cards store?
- 28/06/05 - ID cards 'will reveal details of daily life'
- 28/06/05 - Clarke disputes Big Brother fear
- 28/06/05 - Surveillance creep
- 28/06/05 - Blair expects victory over ID cards
- 28/06/05 - Blair defends ID cards after plan is dismissed as 'dog's dinner'
- 28/06/05 - GOVT WATCHDOG SLAMS ID CARDS
- 27/06/05 - LSE: ID scheme cost uncertainties
- 27/06/05- ID cards 'neither safe nor appropriate'
- 26/06/05 - 9 out of 10 say No to identity cards
- 15/06/05 - Make ID cards foolproof pleads Met chief
- 14/06/05 - Public's support for ID cards wanes in face of £93 bill
- 14/06/05 - ID cards losing support as rising costs deter public
- 14/06/05 - SUPPORT FOR ID CARDS TUMBLES
- 14/06/05 - ID cards losing support as rising costs deter public
- 13/06/05 - US expected to abandon Biometric passport plan
- 31/05/05 - Cost of ID Cards could triple, plan could breach DRA
- 30/05/05 - US biometric ID request raises ID concern in UK
- 29/05/05 - ID cards scheme 'may cost £18bn'
- 26/05/05 - Memory chips, fingerprints, iris scans ... but will it work?
- 26/05/05 - Security loopholes in biggest ever biometric register
- 25/05/05 - Blair defends identity card plan
- 25/05/05 - ID trials reveal scan problems
- 25/05/05 - UK ID scheme rides again, as biggest ID fraud of them all
- 17/05/05 - ID cards face Scots opposition
- 14/04/05 - Clarke calls for ID cards after imagining huge poison terror ring
- 05/04/05 - Blair to ditch ID cards
- 31/03/05 - Malaysia car thieves steal finger
A down side of biometrics?
- 30/03/05 - Select Committee criticises ID Cards Bill
- 21/03/05 - ID card plans too risky - report
- 21/03/05 - ID scheme will be a costly, dangerous failure, says LSE report
- 7/03/05 - ID scheme to bite dust in pre-election terror rush?
- 25/02/05 - Scottish Parliament lines up against ID scheme
- 06/02/05 - Tory party set to withdraw ID scheme support
- 03/02/05 - Tory group report attacks ID scheme as a con trick
- 03/02/05 - Parliamentary report flags ID scheme human rights issues
- 19/01/05 - UK gov ready to u-turn on passport-ID card link?
- 10/01/05 - Consultant 'army' already busy on UK ID card scheme
- 01/01/05 - Labour dismissed ID cards in 1974
- 20/12/04 - ID cards plans pass first hurdle
- 30/12/04 - BT has 'Big Brother' wobbles over ID scheme bids
- 21/12/04 - Labour's Zombie Army clinches ID card vote for Clarke
- 20/12/04 - Government keeps the secrets on ID scheme legal advice
- 03/12/04 - ID cards will hit business, watchdog warns
- 03/12/04 - Need a job? Get a card - arresting ID pitch to business
- 01/12/04 - Populace asked: Do you like ID cards? Say yes, or the puppy gets it
- 01/12/04 - Home Office defends ID card plans (again)
- 29/11/04 - Blunkett launches ID cards bill
- 19/11/04 - UK looks at 'integrating' ID card with health care
Superficially this can seem like a good idea but technology always fails, so just keep your fingers crossed that it's not you or a loved one waiting for urgently needed treatment whilst they sort out the glitch in the system.
- 16/11/04 - Selling surveillance - has Blunkett got a deal for you
Some interesting points about how much we're going to be charged, and how it's being justified, when it's really because Blunkett "wants the entire population to give the Government money so the Government can keep files on them all"
- 31/10/04 - The Great 'standalone' ID card Swindle
- 27/10/04 - Blunkett sets out store on compulsory ID cards
- 26/10/04 - Blunkett poised to open ID scheme offensive tomorrow
- 21/10/04 - Doubts over passport face scans
Trials of facial scanning biometrics (to be introduced on all UK passports Oct 05 and proposed for use in ID cards) suggest the technology has a 10% failure rate. So if you're flying out of Heathrow just keep your fingers crossed you're not one of the 18,000 people PER DAY the system will get 'wrong'. On the other hand, with an error rate that high it's going to end up being ignored anyhow.
- 13/10/04 - Home Office seeks spin doctor to sell cuddly ID card brand
Hiring a spin doctor before releasing the consultation results or getting a Bill through Parliament - I can't help but feel they're doing this in in the wrong order.
- 21/09/04 - Home Office stacking the decks in ID scheme pilot
- 15/09/04 - Immigration, police share data in trawl of 'crime hot-spots'
- 15/09/04 - UK school cans 'world-beating' biometric scanner
- 16/08/04 - Britain heading towards a surveillance society
- 16/08/04 - Watchdog's Big Brother UK warning
The UK information commissioner, Richard Thomas, has expressed concern about how much information will be collected and shared under the ID card plans.
- 06/08/04 - Home Office prohibits happy biometric passports
How can we be confident in the technology when slight change of expression and it doesn't work? Answer, we can't be and we need to remember that.
- 30/07/04 - ID cards: a bad idea, but we'll do it anyway
- 30/07/04 - ID card plans 'badly thought out'
- 08/06/04 - Watchdog's 'alarm' over ID cards
The UK's information commissioner warns that the planned ID cards would be "a very, very attractive proposition for criminals".
- 31/05/04 - Can Prints Lie? Yes, Man Finds to His Dismay
Originally an article at the New York Times, this describes how a man was arrested three times for someone else's crimes, spent two months in custody and was threatened with deportation due to a single error (tagging fingerprints to the wrong person). In one instance the Judge declared that fingerprints never lie, needless to say he was wrong.
- 26/05/04 - FBI apology for Madrid bomb fingerprint fiasco
- 24/05/04 - Blunkett appoints development partner for ID card project
- 21/05/04 - Biometric ID card trial kicks off in Glasgow
- 20/05/04 - Tories join ID card opponents
- 20/05/04 - Opponents take on ID card plans
- 19/05/04 - Poll suggests ID card backlash
- 19/05/04 - ID card backlash: is the poll tax effect kicking in?
The original report that this article and the one above are based upon can be downloaded from Privacy Interational(45kb pdf)
- 14/05/04 - How to fool ID card system - give a false ID, say UK gov
- 07/05/04 - DHS and UK ID card biometric vendor in false ID lawsuit
An example of why I don't believe the argument that only people who have something to hide have a reason to dislike ID cards - duplicate ID numbers, matching innocent people with convicted felons, appear to be the cause of one man being wrongfully imprisoned for 43 days and another losing his business.
- 07/05/04 - Long lashes thwart ID scan trial
- 07/05/04 - Cry to beat iris scanners
- 07/05/04 - Blunkett risks ID card battle with EU
- 05/05/04 - Glitches in ID card kit frustrate Blunkett's pod people
- 05/05/04 - Everything you never wanted to know about the UK ID card
- 04/05/04 - ID card pilot hit by technical glitches
- 27/04/04 - ID cards "will not stop terrorism"
- 26/04/04 - ID cards to use "key database" of personal info
- 26/04/04 - ID card scheme 'will be costly fiasco'
- 26/04/04 - ID card scheme GBP2,500 fine threat
- 26/04/04 - ID card plans due to be unveiled
- 25/04/04 - ID cards 'will aid terror fight'
- 24/04/04 - ID cards have 'hidden dangers'
- 24/04/04 - ID cards 'cannot stop terrorism'
- 24/04/04 - ID card trials to start next week
- 22/04/04 - Public 'happy to carry ID cards'
- 22/04/04 - Detica MORI ID Cards poll spin
- 22/04/04 - UK public wants ID cards, and thinks we'll screw up the IT
- 17/04/04 - Question marks over identity
It appears that the biometric methods proposed for the UK ID card (fingerprints and iris scanning) have been rejected by the Association of Payment and Clearing Services (who deal with credit and debit card security) because they were too likely to result in false results.
- 05/04/04 - ID card bill 'will be published'
- 05/04/04 - ID cards: a guide for technically-challenged PMs
- 04/05/04 - "False IDs would last for life"
- 03/04/04 - ID cards 'could worsen racism'
- 02/04/04 - Met's chief backs identity cards
- 01/04/04 - Tony Blair pressing ahead with ID Cards claiming "no longer a civil liberties objection"
- 01/04/04 - A National ID Card Wouldn't Make Us Safer.
Highly recommended reading - Mr Schneier really knows about security
- 27/03/04 - Taking identity fraud in hand
- 21/03/04 - ID Card leaking season reopens
- 21/03/04 - Blunkett fast-tracks ID card
- 24/02/04 - HAC oral evidence session 24th Feb 2004
- 08/01/04 - BCS sounds ID warning
The BCS is the professional body for the UK IT industry. They express concerns about "the integrity and application of the underlying technology, its operation, security and data retention issues".
- 03/12/03 - ID card technology goes on trial
- 12/11/03 - Blunkett outlines ID card plans
- 24/11/03 - ID Cards: the cost to business
- 12/10/03 - Ministers to dump 'useless' identity card
- 09/10/03 - Compulsory ID Cards equivalent to being on a Sex Offender Register ?
- 23/09/03 - When the British fought off ID cards
- 30/05/03 - ID card 'tricks' anger net users
- 15/05/02 - Fun with Finterprint Readers
