Natalie Solent

Politics, news, libertarianism, Science Fiction, religion, sewing. You got a problem, bud? I like sewing.

E-mail: nataliesolent-at-aol-dot-com (I assume it's OK to quote senders by name.)

Back to main blog

RSS thingy


Jane's Blogosphere: blogtrack for Natalie Solent.



Links

( 'Nother Solent is this blog's good twin. Same words, searchable archives, RSS feed. Provided by a benefactor, to whom thanks.
I also sometimes write for Samizdata and Biased BBC.)

The Old Comrades:

Archives


November 2001 December 2001 January 2002 February 2002 March 2002 April 2002 May 2002 June 2002 July 2002 August 2002 September 2002 October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 August 2007 October 2007 February 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 March 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 October 2009 January 2010 March 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010 August 2010 September 2010 October 2010 November 2010 December 2010 January 2011 February 2011 April 2011 June 2011 August 2011 September 2011 October 2011 November 2011 January 2012 February 2012 March 2012 April 2012 May 2012 June 2012 July 2012 August 2012 September 2012 October 2012 November 2012 December 2012 January 2013 February 2013 March 2013 April 2013 May 2013 June 2013 July 2013 August 2013 September 2013 October 2013 November 2013

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

Thursday, June 15, 2006
 
Nigel Sedgwick writes on ID cards:
I'd like to support you in parts, but not all, of your posting.

Rob Hinkley's comment is a delight: "It seems strange that the government resisted the disclosure request: you'd have thought that if they had nothing to hide they'd have nothing to fear."

Given the recent track record of the UK Government, one must also be concerned that "the scheme will be hugely expensive". However, not all IT systems introduced by the Government have been disasters at first; several have also been OK at the second or third attempt. The underlying problem is, rather too often, that the Government does not really know what it wants or the extent to which that is practical; and "[critics] have questioned what benefits it will bring". On this, some of my thoughts can be found at Presentation on Technical Aspects of the National Identity Card.

Concerning improving the Parliamentary bill on the balance between civil liberties and utility (through an improved service of identification to the public, business and government), suggestions can be found on Samizdata comment on 30 March at 10:39 AM.

We then move on from cost-effectiveness to your own particular point: "... weighing cost versus benefit is only half the story".

I'm not keen on this sort of approach. Whether we admit it or not, when we make a decision, we do end up balancing apples against pears according to some weighting, stated or implicit.

The Scotsman article remembers Dame Stella Rimington, from last November. However, I recollect being certain that she was wrong on the major issue of ease of forging of ID Cards, as I told the BBC.

Baroness Park claims two things.

Firstly: "The very creation of such an enormous national identity register will be a present to terrorists; it will be a splendid thing for them to disrupt and blow up, ..."

Now there are a great many databases that are prime targets for terrorists, and also many potential targets that are not databases. It's not possible to protect them all, beyond any possible vulnerability. Accordingly, the adding of one more to the large set possible targets is not (or is barely) relevant. Furthermore, databases are relatively easy to protect (by replication and backup). Nowadays, this is always done for critical infrastructure, by government and by large businesses (eg banks and insurance). I see this issue as little more than scare-mongering, even if that was not the intention.

Secondly, Baroness Park claims: "It will also provide valuable information to organised crime and to the intelligence services of unfriendly countries. It will be accessible to all of these, ..."

There is a risk. However, the damage from exposure is not quantified. Perhaps it could be explained why and to what extent access is more damaging than to telephone directories, the electoral register, Passport Office and Inland Revenue records, etc. Also, perhaps it could be explained why and to what extent the risk is greater with the National Identity Register (NIR) than with these other things, including those that we currently use to identify ourselves.

In my above-referenced technical presentation, these risks (an others deserving more concern) are identified. They exist; they matter; they do not strike me as making anywhere near an overwhelming case against the NIR.

Two things I argue are important:

- to provide improved certification of (a single or known multiple) identity, for each citizen/resident to use as and when they choose, to confirm their identity to business and government and other individuals, if this can be shown to be cost-effective (and it will be later if not now);

- to prevent, by the Government and others, unnecessary invasion of personal privacy and prevent reduction in other civil liberties, to the maximum extent consistent with the valid and useful functionality of a National Identity Scheme.

I hope all this is of some interest and use.

Best regards
--
Nigel C Sedgwick


posted by Natalie at 11:39 AM

HOME