National ID Cards NO2ID

[dgriffin]

NO2ID is a Brit site that is dedicated to punching holes in their government's attempts to keep track of everyone.

"NO2ID is a campaigning organisation. We are a single-issue group focussed on the threat to liberty and privacy posed by the rapid growth of the database state, of which "ID cards" are the most visible part. We are entirely independent. We do not endorse any party, nor campaign on any other topic."

"We aim to publicise the case against state identity management among the general public, in the media, and at every level in government. NO2ID's members are from all sorts of backgrounds and hold all sorts of opinions on other questions."

"The 'database state' is what we call the tendency to try to use computers to manage society by watching people. There are many interlocking government plans that do this. Together they mean officials poking into your private life more than ever before."

www.no2id.net/





"The problem with ID Cards" here:

www.no2id.net/IDSchemes/whyNot.php


Certainly an issue to follow as it unfolds in the UK.

[dgriffin]

This is scary. But then, I've always considered Alan Dershowitz a scary person.








Why Fear National ID Cards?


By ALAN M. DERSHOWITZ
Published: October 13, 2001


"From a civil liberties perspective, I prefer a system that takes a little bit of freedom from all to one that takes a great deal of freedom and dignity from the few -- especially since those few are usually from a racially or ethnically disfavored group. A national ID card would be much more effective in preventing terrorism than profiling millions of men simply because of their appearance. "

tinyurl.com/aecq9t


I wonder if Alan still feels the same in 2009?

[rrogers40]

Between the state drivers licenses, social security card, and all the other stuff in my wallet I wonder if it would not be easier to just carry one card- it isn't like they cant just look my name up on google and connect the dots.

[dgriffin]

Ryan, I think I told this story before, but "convenience" stores are on almost every corner these days, and every one of them probably has a Lottery terminal. These terminals (in New York, at least) will scan driver's licenses (the defacto American ID card), as I learned from a store clerk a few years ago. So now we have convenient ID-checking stations throughout the land. The next time you get caught speeding, maybe you'll be hauled into a convenience store and electronically finger printed.

[Clipper]

Worse than the lottery terminals Dave, here in Tennessee and Virginia, the cash registers scan licenses and you have to be scanned before you can purchase lottery, tobacco, or alcohol. Not just on the lottery terminal, but on common cash registers. You have to have a barcoded ID in order to make the purchases even if you don't hold a driver's license. The sheriff's department issues a picture ID with a barcoded back for that purpose.

[Swimmy]

"From a civil liberties perspective, I prefer a system that takes a little bit of freedom from all to one that takes a great deal of freedom and dignity from the few -- especially since those few are usually from a racially or ethnically disfavored group. A national ID card would be much more effective in preventing terrorism than profiling millions of men simply because of their appearance. "

"Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Clipper]

I think when paranoia drives us to that level of government intervention into our personal lives, our freedoms have eroded WAY too far.

I do agree however that any efforts at security should not profile UNFAIRLY. There ARE cases where some groups are more suspect than others, and it cannot be helped. It is sad but true. I would rather be stopped and questioned as a french canadian, than to see a french canadian walk into a public building with a bomb in a brief case and blow up a bunch of innocent people.

I have no problem at all with the airport security checks, but the national ID has too many ways to be misused and too many ways for government to obtain information that is not any of their business.

Paranoia on a national level is something that has evolved ever since the Japanese bombed pearl harbor. ALL japanese americans were rounded up and put in camps, and our government started at that time to spend unbelievable amounts of money on early detection and defense. Defense became a major cog in our economic machine. Defense jobs and companies that manufactured military hardware and technology boomed until recent years. It started with pearl harbor, thrived until the end of the cold war, and now is centering on terrorism. The face of defense has changed. It no longer requires hundreds of stationary bases to take care of business, but the electronic, and covert operations have grown. Security on the streets of hometown America has increased with scanners and security checkpoints in damn near every public building across the country.

To institute a program where you scanned a card for many different purposes in many different environments, from the post office to the liquor store, or your family doctor's office, puts too much generic personal information at the disposal of everyone from spammers and identity thieves, to FBI agents and the IRS. It would be one more step towards "Welcome to socialist America."

[Swimmy]

It's bad enough the FBI is pressing forward with its biometrics database. Big brother scares the crap out of me!

[dgriffin]

Feb 3, 2009 19:48:20 GMT -5 Swimmy said:

It's bad enough the FBI is pressing forward with its biometrics database. Big brother scares the crap out of me!

As he should. If there is no reason, for example, why you should know what I'm reading and what I'm thinking, other than what I choose to say, then there certainly is no reason for a group of people who supposedly represent us (our elected officials and THEIR agencies) to monitor my thoughts and legitimate actions.

Why are such surveillance methods needed today, when they were evidently unnecessary just decades ago? Is the world more dangerous today than it was then? Or has our ability and desire to protect ourselves dried up.