modernity
Tony Blair wants us to think that identity cards are an issue of modernity, not about civil liberties at all. This is a pretty feeble line to take - as if it counts as an argument to simply say nice things about your own position and act as if all the criticism coming from wide ranging and well qualified sources doesn't really exist.
Even supposing that identity cards (and the associated national database) actually had the potential to bring about the magic cure for such diverse problems as illegal immigration and benefits fraud (not forgetting terrorism as well of course, and basically just 'crime' in general), there still remains a massive problem of trust. Does it make sense to trust this government with 51 categories of personal information? If you don't do anything wrong, maybe. But how hard has it been for this government to invent new categories of wrong-doing, such that people who wouldn't have been criminals ten years ago now find themselves on distinctly the wrong side of the law, whether they're autistic teenagers whose neighbours land them with an asbo for staring over the fence, or little-England parishioners who think that civil partnerships aren't somehow quite as valid as conventional marriage.
ID cards and the national identity register, if they go ahead, will not only be a massive waste of money but a massive intrusion into our privacy. There's nothing shameful about wanting your personal details kept personal, as opposed to collected minutely and held centrally and made to contribute to a society where your innocence needs to be established and the people become answerable to the state rather than the other way round.
Anyway, we have an overnight guest due to arrive shortly; beds need to be made; it's better that I step down from the soapbox for the time being.
Even supposing that identity cards (and the associated national database) actually had the potential to bring about the magic cure for such diverse problems as illegal immigration and benefits fraud (not forgetting terrorism as well of course, and basically just 'crime' in general), there still remains a massive problem of trust. Does it make sense to trust this government with 51 categories of personal information? If you don't do anything wrong, maybe. But how hard has it been for this government to invent new categories of wrong-doing, such that people who wouldn't have been criminals ten years ago now find themselves on distinctly the wrong side of the law, whether they're autistic teenagers whose neighbours land them with an asbo for staring over the fence, or little-England parishioners who think that civil partnerships aren't somehow quite as valid as conventional marriage.
ID cards and the national identity register, if they go ahead, will not only be a massive waste of money but a massive intrusion into our privacy. There's nothing shameful about wanting your personal details kept personal, as opposed to collected minutely and held centrally and made to contribute to a society where your innocence needs to be established and the people become answerable to the state rather than the other way round.
Anyway, we have an overnight guest due to arrive shortly; beds need to be made; it's better that I step down from the soapbox for the time being.
posted by cath at
9:48 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home