Verdict of the Week


Identity Cards

The Government argues that the introduction of ID cards will help protect against terrorism, identity fraud, illegal immigration, welfare cheats and crime and, to a minor degree, this may be true. But it must also be countered that the amount of data held on these cards will also be the professional hacker's delight and a terrorists dream.

It has also been proven in recent weeks that the government cannot be held accountable for the security of our private data. They have already admitted to losing several discs that contain something in the region of 30 million peoples' personal data on them.

But one of the most worrying factors of ID cards is surely that they attack the very basis of the liberal values that define us as one of the most civilised and democratic nations on earth. Forcing individuals to identify themselves to various different bodies and local authorities on demand, surely smacks of Nazism and goes against everything that this freedom fighting nation has always so rigorously resisted.

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