Owain wrote:

But if the ID database isn't already exempted from the Act on grounds of
'national security', such an exemption can easily be created.

You anticipate the Bill drafters' every move, you cheeky little mole you
;-) That's pretty much exactly what the draft Bill does - not on grounds
of 'national security', but baldly asserting superiority over the
inconvenient requirements of the Data Protection Act. Oddly enuff, the
Information Commissioner seemed a little exercised about that...