UK will now have an ID card for all

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Smith unveils design for ID card

By Jack Doyle, PA
Thursday, 25 September 2008

London Independent

The design for the new identity card was unveiled by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith today.

Each card will carry a picture and a chip holding the person's name and date of birth, fingerprint record and other biometric data.

It will also detail the holder's visa status and right to work.

The cards will be issued to foreign nationals from November and from next year to people working in airports and other high security jobs.

From 2011 everyone over the age of 16 applying for a passport will have their details added to a national identity register.

Ministers argue the cards will boost national security, tackle identity fraud, prevent illegal working and improve border controls.

But opponents say ID cards are unnecessary, costly and impinge liberty.

There are also fears about the security of personal data after a string of government data loss blunders.

Liberty Director Shami Chakrabarti said: "This week the Prime Minister said he doesn't do PR but clearly the Home Secretary wasn't listening.

"The public will yawn at yet another re-launch of this scheme and if the card came with loyalty points, we still wouldn't buy it.

"Picking on foreigners first is divisive politics; as costly to our race relations as our purses."

Earlier this week Home Office minister Meg Hillier was forced to row back after claiming ID cards could be issued to children as young as 14

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Britain unveils new ID card amid criticism
By Michael Holden
Reuters/Washington Post
Thursday, September 25, 2008; 9:30 AM

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain unveiled its new biometric identity card on Thursday which the government says will be vital in fighting illegal immigration and terrorism, while critics call it an expensive attack on civil liberties.

The controversial multi-billion pound scheme, which involves one of the world's most ambitious biometric projects, will see ID cards used in Britain for the first time since they were abolished after World War Two.

Initially only foreign nationals from outside the European Economic Area will be required to have one if they come to Britain to work or study, but the scheme will be expanded to Britons and some others over the next few years.

"We all want to see our borders more secure, and human trafficking, organized immigration crime, illegal working and benefit fraud tackled," said Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.

"ID cards for foreign nationals, in locking people to one identity, will deliver in all these areas."

Despite a series of embarrassing data losses recently, including the admission that the personal details of half the population had been mislaid, the government insists that both the cards and their related databases will be secure.

But critics of the cards, which will contain personal details, fingerprints and a facial image, remain unimpressed.

Both major opposition parties have vowed to ditch cards for Britons should they win power, and with the Labour government trailing in the polls, the 4.7 billion pound national identity scheme's days may already be numbered.

"It does not matter how fancy the design of ID cards is, they remain a grotesque intrusion on the liberty of the British people," said Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman.

"When voting adults are forced to carry ID cards, this scheme will prove to be a laminated poll tax," he added, referring to the local charge whose massive unpopularity led to Margaret Thatcher being ousted as prime minister.

The first cards for foreign nationals will be issued in November while from next year anyone working in sensitive areas, such as airport staff, will need one at a cost of 30 pounds.

Smith said opinion polls showed the majority of the public supported the cards and that people would warm to them once they saw the advantages, allowing them to easily verify who they are and helping the authorities at the same time.

(Editing by Steve Addison)

San Francisco Approves a City ID Card

San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a "municipal identification" card to city residents.

It is not for driving, but for bank accounts, and maybe later for library use and metro card use. The card was promoted with the idea that people would not be as afraid to call the police should they need to. The questions remains- who will get the card? If only undocumented people do so, then it won't help them stay anonymous. Why would a U.S. resident or citizen want one of these if a driver's license of state ID is available?

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S.F. supervisors approve ID cards for residents
Wyatt Buchanan, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 14, 2007

(11-13) 15:56 PST San Francisco - -- The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to issue municipal identification cards to city residents - regardless of whether they are in the country legally - and to double the amount of public money available to candidates running for supervisor.

Supervisor Tom Ammiano, who authored the ID card legislation, said the program is a smart public safety measure because it would make residents living on the social margins of San Francisco more likely to seek the help of police and could give them more access to banking services.

"People are afraid to report crimes," Ammiano said, referring to illegal immigrants who avoid local law enforcement authorities over fear of being arrested or deported by federal immigration officials.

The legislation would require companies holding city contracts to accept the municipal card as a legitimate form of identification - except in cases where other state and federal laws require other forms of proof of age, name and residence.

Under San Francisco's sanctuary ordinance, it is city policy that no municipal government personnel or resources be used to assist federal immigration officials in the arrest and deportation of illegal immigrants.

Ammiano said banking institutions in San Francisco have signaled their willingness to accept the municipal ID card for the purpose of setting up accounts. He noted that people without bank accounts are frequently more vulnerable to theft and robbery.

Officials with the city's Bank on San Francisco program, which helps people obtain bank accounts, said institutions such as Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Washington Mutual and US Bank had expressed interest in accepting the ID cards.

Bank on San Francisco is a city partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank. Although criteria for opening bank accounts are set in part through the USA Patriot Act, "to our knowledge that law is not a bar to a municipal ID," said David Augustine, spokesman for the city treasurer's office, which oversees the program.

The ID legislation, which was approved 10-1 on the first of two readings, has the support of Mayor Gavin Newsom and would make San Francisco the largest city in the country to issue municipal identification. The city of New Haven, Conn., began issuing cards earlier this year.

Ammiano said he hopes the card could eventually be used at city libraries and become compatible with the regional TransLink transit card system.

Supervisor Sean Elsbernd voted against the measure, saying his opposition was primarily financial because the city doesn't know how much implementing the program will cost. "Next year's budget is not going to be pretty," Elsbernd said. "With all the services included, this could shortchange our budget discussion."

The San Francisco County Clerk has estimated the cost of the program could range between $1.07 million and $2.86 million in the first three years, much of that for staff to process the cards.

Supporters of tougher enforcement of U.S. immigration laws argue that local identification card programs have the effect of legitimizing the decisions of people who entered or have remained in the country illegally and making it more difficult for the federal government to enforce those laws...

E-mail Wyatt Buchanan at wbuchanan@sfchronicle.com.

for complete article: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/14/BAB9TBP5H.DTL

thanks to Juli for informing me about this article