The National Identity Scheme is to be pushed to young people in London from this Monday 8th Feb. The NO2ID campaign [1] is warning anyone considering applying to read the small print before taking on what may be the most serious commitment they ever make.

The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) claims that ID cards are a “convenient” form of proof of age and will therefore be particularly useful for late teenagers. It is not so forthright about the fact that, once on the system, you have obligations for the rest of your life. You must look after the card and report if it is lost, stolen, or damaged, and you must keep your official record on the National Identity Register [2] up to date for the rest of your life. There are penalties for not doing so.

Meg Hillier MP, the minister responsible, confirmed earlier this week that nothing will get you removed from the Register – not even death [3].

Phil Booth, National Coordinator of NO2ID said,

If you look under 18 at 22, there are already cheap, simple proof-of-age cards available. What’s on offer here is a system that will keep track of your personal details for official purposes for life – and perhaps long after you have died of old age.

The ID scheme is a bureaucrat’s dream; a citizen’s nightmare.

-ENDS-

Notes for editors:

1) NO2ID is the UK-wide non-partisan campaign against ID cards and the database state. See http://www.no2id.net/dbstate for a list of ‘database state’ initiatives that NO2ID is actively opposing, and http://www.no2id.net/datasharing for how it all fits together.

NO2ID’s ‘Don’t be a guinea-pig’ campaign is at:
http://www.no2id.net/idcardcon/

2) For a full list of the *fifty* categories of information that may legally be held on the National Identity Register, read Schedule 1 of the Identity Cards Act 2006:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts2006/ukpga_20060015_en_5#sch1

3) In response to a Parliamentary Question from Francis Maude MP, Ms Hillier said:
“Information will be retained for as long as is necessary, but only where it is consistent with the statutory purposes set out in the Identity Cards Act 2006. For example, the Identity Cards Act 2006 provides that the date of death may be held on the National Identity Register. This information may be required to help prevent an individual’s identity being stolen after death.”
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2010-02-01a.312174.h&s

For further information, or for immediate or future interview, please contact:

Phil Booth (National Co-ordinator, national.coordinator@no2id.net) on 07974 230 839
Guy Herbert (General Secretary, general.secretary@no2id.net) on 07956 544 308
Michael Parker (Press Officer, press.officer@no2id.net) on 07773 376 166

The Home Office today announces that young people in London may enroll in its National Identity Scheme from February 8th, suggesting that it offers a ‘convenient’ form of proof of age. NO2ID [1] suggests that targetting London’s young is even less likely to achieve wide use than the heavily promoted pilot in Manchester [2].

Phil Booth, National Coordinator of NO2ID said:

If it were not for the sinister consequences for anyone foolish
enough to be a guinea pig, this would be ludicrous as well as
wasteful.

You can spend £10 on a proof-of-age card from an independent charity with no other commitment; or you can pay £30 now, be fingerprinted, and agree to account for your personal details to the Home Office for the rest of your life. The government believes you will choose the second, and is spending £230,000 of taxpayers money a day [3] on that basis.

-ENDS-

Notes for editors:

[1] NO2ID is the UK-wide non-partisan campaign against ID cards and
the database state.
See http://www.no2id.net/dbstate for a list of ‘database state’ initiatives that NO2ID is actively opposing, and
http://www.no2id.net/datasharing for how it all fits together.
NO2ID’s ‘Don’t be a guinea-pig’ campaign is at: http://www.no2id.net/idcardcon/

[2] See, ‘Hundreds of ID cards taken up in NW England,’ BBC 21 Jan 2010
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8472030.stm
The Home Office claims that, ‘A total of 2,700 identity cards are now
in circulation in Manchester and the North West.’ In Greater Manchester alone there are more than 3,000 births a month.

[3] See, ‘ID cards to go on sale for the first time in Manchester,’ The Times 17 Nov 2009
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6919333.ece

For further information, or for immediate or future interview, please contact:
Phil Booth (National Co-ordinator, national.coordinator@no2id.net) on
07974 230 839
Guy Herbert (General Secretary, general.secretary@no2id.net) on 07956 544 308 (Central London)
Michael Parker (Press Officer, press.officer@no2id.net) on 07773 376 166

Yesterday, on the same day that the European Court of Human Rights ruled that stop and search powers under the Terrorism Act are too wide[1], it emerged that City of London police are claiming they may demand identification from photographers – powers that no legislation gives them.

In a statement given to Amateur Photographer [2], City of London Police said: ‘Photographers should carry identification where
possible and be prepared to answer questions about why they are taking photographs, if they are asked.’

Even under the controversial – from today arguably illegal – ’stop and account’ powers in the Terrorism Act 2000, police have no power arbitrarily to demand you identify yourself, let alone produce documents on the spot. They can only do so in connection with the investigation of a suspected offence.[3]

Phil Booth, NO2ID’s National Coordinator[4], said:

Even the Terrorism Act does not give police power to demand identification arbitrarily. In backing this ‘advice to photographers’ by vague menaces, the City force is trying to make it compulsory to carry ID in the square mile. Anyone with a mobile is a photographer nowadays.

It is not a free country where police make up powers to suit themselves. If what you are doing is lawful, then your identity is no business of the police.

This is a perfect illustration of the danger of the government’s ID scheme. They’ll say they ‘need to know’. They don’t. Official ID obsession means harassment for citizens – legally or illegally.

-ENDS-

Notes for editors:

1. Gillan and Quinton v the United Kingdom:
   ‘…the powers of authorisation and confirmation as well as those of stop and search… are neither sufficiently circumscribed nor subject to adequate legal safeguards against abuse. … .They are not therefore ‘in accordance with the law’.’
   See: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/6975087/Stop-and-search-under-terror-laws-unlawful-Europe-rules.html; Liberty conducted the case
2. Amateur Photographer, 12 January 2010 http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/news/Police_Photographers_should_carry_identification_news_292902.html
3. Taking photographs is rarely an offence.‘Officers should be reminded that it is not an offence for a member of the public or journalist to take photographs of a public building and use of cameras by the public does not ordinarily permit use of stop and search power,’Chief Constable Andrew Trotter has written, setting out ACPO’s opinion.
4. NO2ID is the UK-wide non-partisan campaign against ID cards and the database state. See http://www.no2id.net/dbstate for a list of ‘database state’ initiatives that NO2ID is actively opposing, and http://www.no2id.net/datasharing for how it all fits together.

For further information, or for immediate or future interview, please contact:

• Phil Booth (National Co-ordinator, national.coordinator@no2id.net) on 07974 230 839
• Guy Herbert (General Secretary, general.secretary@no2id.net) on 07956 544 308 (Central London)
• Michael Parker (Press Officer, press.officer@no2id.net) on 07773 376 166