Mary Fisher wrote:

Do you truly believe you have nothing to hide?


Yes. What sort of thing do you think I might be hiding?

You ought to be hiding the information that would readily enable someone
to commit fraud while impersonating you. If you don't then not only do
you suffer the consequences, but so do many others.

Are you aware of the implications of hiding nothing?


There haven't been any problems so far. In that historical context I'm happy
to continue.

This is much like the argument presented by our four year old when told
off for running out into the road - "its ok daddy, I didn't get run
over" - the implication being that since they got away with it this time
they always will. In other words they have no understanding of risk.

Given the content of the (proposed) information that would be held about
you in the ID database it would be possible (in fact easy) for those with
criminal intent to misappropriate your identity. From that starting point,
they could demolish many aspects of your life for their own financial
gain. This is not a pipe dream of my over active imagination, it happens
to thousands of people every year already.


LOL! Who would want any aspect of my life?

Chances are no one.... directly. However they might like the money they
could either steal from you directly, or more likely, steal from
financial institutions by using your impeccable credit rating.

You assume that for example your credit rating is of no relevance to you
because you don't seek credit. Do you realise that it will dictate whether
you are allowed to open an account at a bank or building society, have a
cheque book,


We already have those things but they're not essential.

If the bank decided you were no longer trustworthy with a cheque book
and took yours away? If every time you went overdrawn by a penny they
billed you a 25 quid unauthorised ooverdraft fee, rather than allowing a
little flexibility as they do for their better rated customers?

Even if you don't care, don't you suppose another might?

take out life insurance etc.


Because I'm honest I couldn't get life insurance but I don't want it.

Some do....

It will dictate the terms and conditions under which many financial
institutions will deal with you. With a poor rating you become a second
class citizen in their eyes.


So what?

It costs you more to carry out basic transactions, and you have less
flexibility.

I would, but it could happen now so that's a red herring in terms of an ID
system.

It has everything to do with the ready availability of information - the
ID database will concentrate all these different bits of information in
one place and make them accessible to anyone who wants them
(irrespective of the security measures put in place to prevent that).

If a criminal decides that they can alter your ID database records, then
they can then use their highly trusted new identity with its good credit
rating to carry out fraud. Because it is assumed to be a high class form
of ID, less, rather than more checking is likely to be carried out.
Because it will subsume and slowly replace other databases (manual or
electronic) that contain versions of your ID, then the ability to cross
check will diminish as there will be ever fewer trusted sources to check
against.

How would you like to find that you have acquired a criminal record due to
someone's impersonation of your identity? Or perhaps an entry on the sex
offenders register?


In my arrogance I believe that if that happened my powers of persuasion
would put it right.

As your civil liberties erode still further and we progress away from
the "innocent until proven guilty" tenet our legal system was based on,
to the reverse (as enacted in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers
Act, The anti terrorism act, the football hooliganism act an so on) for
example, what proof of your innocence would you rely on?

What about if a "health tourist" used your details to obtain medical care
on the NHS? What if said care resulted in information being added to your
medical records that is completely incorrect (i.e. fora different patient)
and may result in incorrect treatments being offered to you in the future?


Look, what has all this to do with ID cards? Despite its imperfections there

The cards, not much... the database means the criminal has easy access
to all the the quality, correlated information necessary to perpetrate
these things.

are many (too many sometimes) enforced checks on health care for such things
to be extremely unlikely. If you tell me that they happen already I believe
you - but that means that it's not an argument against an ID system.

The ID system will streamline them and automate them. It will remove
many points of human contact that often detect fraud.

If someone decided that your identity was a good one to steal, what
would you rather they have to do: log into one civil service Intranet
site and make a single update then have it ripple through all the
interconnected systems, or, make approaches to a multitude of different
agencies and bodies repeatedly telling them the same thing. Perhaps
visit your branch of the bank, where there is a possibility the teller
may recognise you. Each transaction they carry out in enacting the
change brings with it the risk of detection. More transactions are hence
less convenient, but as a result more secure.


I suspect you are playing devil's advocate, I can't believe you really
are that green.


--
Cheers,

John.

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