Politech is the oldest Internet resource devoted to politics and technology. Launched in 1994 by Declan McCullagh, the mailing list has chronicled the growing intersection of law, culture, technology, and politics. Since 2000, so has the Politech web site.

Previous Politech message:
http://www.politechbot.com/2005/07/04/uk-identity-cards/

Background on London bombings:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/07/07/london.tube/index.html


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: London Bombings and British National ID Cards
Date: Thu, 07 Jul 2005 21:38:07 -0500
From: Scott Purl <scott.purl@gmail.com>
To: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>

How soon till the proposed British National ID card is named as
something that would have prevented today's bombings?  And with all
those CCTV cameras littered about London, where's the footage of the
bombers?  Is there none because the cameras weren't pervasive/invasive
enough?

Maybe someone out there in Politechland can answer this one.  Why do all
these national ID cards have to carry around a copy of the bearer's
personal information (which then makes it that much easier to
duplicate)?  My credit card doesn't actually carry around my bank
balance.  A pound note isn't actually worth a pound.  They are
representative of something valuable elsewhere.  Why can't these cards
and passports carry some holographic bar code that can be scanned from a
foot away, and then a picture of me and my information pop up on the
security guards' screen after being downloaded from a central government
computer?

Or is it because fancy holographic stickers are on cheap enough to put
on packs of gum now, and thus there's no expensive infrastructure to sell?

Cheers,
Scott

Posted by Declan McCullagh on Jul 08, 2005 in category privacy

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