The dossier of private information is the badge of the totalitarian state

The dossier of private information is the badge of the totalitarian state.

ID cards to use 'key database' of personal info. Blunkett blanket trawl By John Lettice . [The Register]


This whole “biometic-ID cards will save our asses” stuff thing is a lot of old hooey.

Organized criminals will, as they always have, use their financial muscle and, where necessary, blackmail, to get valid ID's or insert phoney data into the system. If anything happens to go wrong with your data you, the ordinary blighted citizen, will be screwed since the government will argue that nothing can go wrong.

In this age of decentralization the governments big idea is to put all the data into one big centralized database? I think it's amazing, amazingly stupid that is.

And let's just consider for a second how responsible we think they'll be with this new toy:

“Of course the state should have, on occasions, the right to information about individuals,” he says. “But what safety measures have been put in place? This is not paranoia about being found out. It's a reasonable concern in a democratic society. This government has proved as bad as any other in terms of protecting rights of privacy.” [The Guardian]

and:

As long ago as 1990, Sir Nicholas, then a senior high court judge, now a law lord, warned: “If the information obtained by the police, the Inland Revenue, the social security services, the health service and other agencies were to be gathered together in one file, the freedom of the individual would be gravely at risk. The dossier of private information is the badge of the totalitarian state.” [The Guardian]

Giving the government more powers doesn't work. Haven't we learned that yet? They keep telling us how with a little more power they can fix the problem… they've been telling me that for the last 32 years. Has it worked? I think it's time for a change and it starts with saying no to Blunketts latest stupidity.  [Curiouser and curiouser!]

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