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A ROW IS brewing over the public services card ahead of the resumption of the Dáil and Seanad next month.
Civil liberties campaigners have raised concerns about the card after confirmation that possession of one will soon be required in order to obtain a driving licence or a passport.
Data protection experts have complained that that the government is attempting to create an ID card system “by stealth”, and Fianna Fáil has called for a debate on the issue to take place in both houses of the Oireachtas.
The card is not new – it was originally introduced in 2012 – but its rollout is coming under renewed focus after a number of cases (see below) which saw people lose out on public services because they don’t have one.
In the UK, attempts to introduce ID cards rumbled on for nearly a decade – causing numerous headaches for prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown as they attempted to bring in various versions of the scheme in the face of fierce opposition.
From the inception of the plan to the eventual, limited introduction of the cards, the dispute played out over an eight year period from 2002.
The scheme was scrapped entirely with the election of David Cameron and Nick Clegg’s Conservative-Lib Dem government in 2010.
Here’s what happened…
Tony Blair’s Labour government had proposed the idea of national ID cards after 9/11 as a way of combatting terrorism.
The initial plan was shelved, but a new version was introduced by Home Secretary David Blunkett in 2002. It was now being described as an ‘entitlement’ card which would be used to combat social welfare fraud.
A public consultation was launched: despite the fact that almost two-thirds of the 7,000 submissions were against the idea, Blunkett said he was pressing ahead with the project.
Blunkett pressed for legislation to be included in the 2003 Queen’s Speech, which traditionally sets out the priorities of the UK government for the coming year, but Blair’s cabinet was split on the issue.
The Home Secretary insisted the cards would ensure “people don’t work if they are not entitled to work, they don’t draw on services which are free in this country, including health, unless they are entitled to”.
Plans to bring in a national ID system were eventually outlined in the Queen’s November speech – but the scheme was to be delayed until later in the decade so that biometric data could be included.
Blunkett resigned and was replaced by Charles Clarke in 2004, but the new Home Secretary insisted he would press ahead with the ID card plan: legislation continued to make its way through parliament.
Labour suffered several defeats on the legislation in the House of Lords in 2006. In one such vote, Tory and Liberal Democrat peers managed to strike down plans to link the card to passport applications – insisting the government was trying to bring in compulsory ID cards “by stealth”.
Lady Kennedy, a human rights lawyer and Labour party rebel, had argued that the measure amounted to introducing compulsory ID “by the back door”. The legislation would have required all passport applicants to enter their details on a national identity register.
Labour ministers had warned the peers they ought to follow parliamentary convention and green light the measure, as it had featured in the government’s election manifesto. Opponents, however, said that the manifesto had promised a voluntary scheme, whereas the one being proposed would have to be accepted by anyone applying for a passport.
By the end of the year Tony Blair was still insisting the identity card scheme should go ahead for reasons of “modernity”. At a press conference, he also stressed the personal benefit of having an ID card, saying it would do away with the need to produce other documents to prove your identity.
After a 2006 compromise that allowed the bill to pass through the Lords, the rollout began in 2008 as ID cards became compulsory for foreign nationals.
A trial plan to make the cards mandatory for pilots and airside staff at London City and Manchester airports was dropped the following year, after union opposition.
Alan Johnson, who had by then taken over as Home Secretary, conceded that the cards should not have been sold as the “panacea for tackling terrorism” and said that had been a factor in “messing up” the debate.
“People who worked airside were resenting the fact there was compulsion involved,” Johnson said – although he insisted the ID scheme was still very much alive.
As the BBC reported at the time, the government had always envisaged that the scheme would eventually be compulsory. It had always insisted, however, that the cards would not be made compulsory without MPs being allowed to vote on the issue – and it was never proposed that it would actually be mandatory to carry one at all times.
A year after they were rolled out for foreign nationals, the final design of the card was unveiled to the public in 2009 and they were offered at first to members of the public in Greater Manchester.
The cards, which were available from £30, would be launched nationwide in 2011 or 2012, the government announced. Home Secretary Alan Johnson helmed the regional launch in July 2009, saying:
“The introduction of ID cards today reaches another milestone, enabling the people of Manchester to prove and protect their identity in a quick, simple and secure way.
Given the growing problem of identity fraud and the inconvenience of having to carry passports, coupled with gas bills or six months worth of bank statements to prove identity, I believe the ID card will be welcomed as an important addition to the many plastic cards that most people already carry.
The opposition described it as a “colossal waste of money” and civil liberties campaigners said it was “as costly to our pockets as to our privacy”.
As the rollout continued, the scheme was extended across the North West and to 16- to 24-year-olds in London in 2010.
By May of that year there were around 15,000 cards in circulation.
The same month, David Cameron became Prime Minister following a general election and his Home Secretary Theresa May announced she was scrapping the cards. A separate but similar scheme for foreign nationals would continue.
The entire project was estimated to have cost £5 billion – although the London School of Economics estimated at the time that the true cost could be far higher.
The debate hasn’t entirely gone away, however.
At the beginning of last year Nicholas Soames, a Tory MP, asked then-Immigration Minister James Brokenshire whether he would consider ID cards as a way of combatting the growing terror threat in Europe.
The idea was dismissed by Brokenshire, who responded:
There are steps that we are taking through various measures to enhance the security of this country but our judgment remains that ID cards is not the right way forward.
This summer, it was announced that EU citizens living in the UK after Brexit would need to apply for a new residence document to prove their right to stay in the country.
Again the familiar ‘by stealth’ argument raised its head – as opponents accused the government of trying to bring in ID cards “by the back door”.
“It is not an ID card,” Brexit Secretary David Davis insisted in the House of Commons.
We are talking about documentation to prove that people have the right to a job and the right to residence, but they will not have to carry that around all the time. It is not an ID card; it is rather like your birth certificate. It’s not an ID card!
Here at home, both main opposition parties have called for a debate on the issue of public services cards.
Sinn Féin TD Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said this week that there were “very considerable and legitimate concerns regarding privacy and sharing of sensitive data”. Fianna Fáil’s Seanad spokesperson for Social Protection Catherine Ardagh said it was essential both houses of the Oireachtas had an opportunity to debate the matter.
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They’re not compulsory. Sure, it’s necessary to avail of public services, but if you can do without those services you’re entitled not to register for the card.
If you don’t trust the State, don’t avail of the services provided by the State.
It really irks me that this is yet another example of a small cohort, certainly well in the minority in the country, who seem to have the time and inclination to agitate against an initiative of the State that would ultimately reduce costs to the taxpayer. In this instance the card will assist detection of all types of fraud and impersonation, as well as allowing improved efficiencies for those of us who don’t have all day to wait in a tax office or other waiting-room.
@Brian Lenehan: it is compulsory for the most of us as soon as they extended its use beyond social welfare. Just debate and legislate for a national ID card and stop the lies and pretence. Like IW public confidence is being eroded due to the government approach
@lavbeer: Wait, I want talking only about social welfare. If you don’t want to use any service provided by the State (because of trusts issues or whatever), then feel free not to register for the PSC. That’s entirely your prerogative.
If, on the other hand, you do want to participated the State you should allow the State to function more efficiently. If that means using the PSC for multiple purposes across State bodies – if that’s what it takes – then so be it.
As for Irish Water, the majority agreed with the government on that – taxpayers were in favour of treating water as a finite resource that should be treated as a utility. Again, unfortunately, the hive of the idle minds set themselves against it for fear that they may have to actually pay for something.
@Brian Lenehan: don’t get me wrong I am only commenting on the government extending it beyond one department. It was designed for Social Welfare. When they start bringing DFA into it the remit changed. It is a national ID card in public perception.
@Brian Lenehan: ba ba ba ba good boy brian.
@Brian Lenehan.. the best protection for identity is having access to multipul ID verifiers. Having a birth cert and passport should be sufficient. Goverment are turning citizens into customers and consumers which by birth right we are not just the sum of. This card is one step to a national ID card where by todays tech you could amass much more detail – just ripe for a hacker or if not updated bring you the kind of file sharing hell metered out on McCabe.
@Martin Critten: Wouldn’t it be a nice experience to be treated as a customer by the various public services? I’ve memories of queuing for hours for passports or motor tax to be met at the hatch by some grumpy and rude administrator who looked at me as a nuisance. If the PSC helps to improve efficiency, reduce mistakes and save the State (and me as taxpayer) money, then it’s worth any perceived downsides.
@Martin Critten: the information on the chip is limited to name, DOB, address, gender and one or two other markers, along with a unique identifier. All the important information about you is held as a record on the individual department or body’s database using the unique identifier as its primary key.
@Martin Ryan: keep your schoolyard bulling bleating to yourself you clown.
@Brian Lenehan: if it was only for welfare , pensions etc I wouldn’t have any complaints. But requiring it for passport, driving licenses etc is a way of sneaking it in by stealth. This is a national ID card no matter what FG say.
@Jay Coleman: @Brian Lenehan: I’m not against an ID card per se but at the moment this rollout is devious, have significant potential data breaches as over 100 private/public bodies will have access to this information with no data protection in place and once it’s in you can definitely see FG etc requiring it to be carried at all times. If they want an ID card then bring it in as an ID card and have a proper discussion around it.
@Brian Lenehan: Driving my car or wanting to travel abroad is ’wanting to exercise my freedom to travel’, not ’wanting to avail of state services’ as you put it. It’s a very distorted viewpoint you have.
@Paraic McDonagh: with a passport you are availing of a state service as the Foreign Affairs is requesting foreign governments to give you safe passage in their country with validated identity.
@lavbeer: But we are not taking about a passport are we?
@Paraic McDonagh: you will need a PSC to get one soon enough. So it is relevant to your point in state services
@Paraic McDonagh: unless you’re going to drive your car up and down your own driveway or around your field you are using public roads and infrastructure, for which you must pay motor-tax, for which you must conduct a transaction with a State Body. As motor-tax discs have a value (and are thus prone to counterfeit fraud), the access to them is controlled. You must establish your identity when purchasing the disc. Hence the PSC will be used. If you don’t like it, get off the feckin’ road.
You want to travel abroad? You can do so because the Minister for Foreign Affairs, by virtue of you bearing a passport, is vouching for you and requests your safe passage. If you don’t want that privilege don’t apply for a passport.
@Brian Lenehan: Were not taking about not paying motor or fuel tax or holding a driver’s license either. None of which I have issue with.
@Brian Lenehan: WE have only been told what information is displayed on the card and what the magnetic is used for. There has never been any mention of what the chip is for or what information it contains or is capable of containing.
Stop making things up.
@Brian Lenehan: ah brian you hurt my feelings with that response now off you go to another thread to continue spreading the goverments spin ye wannabe stooge.
Fraud? How is this going to stop corrupt bankers politicians and offshore businessmen?
@Brian Lenehan: the government is there to govern for the people. Not to govern the people. I’ve had a driving licence and passport for a lot of years these are more than adequate for my ID.
@Brian Lenehan: not idle minds. I’m sure those who opposed Irish Water would not consider themselves idle or of idle minds. Perhaps your name might suggest idle mind
@Dave Doyle: “The PSC itself securely contains a person’s identity dataset on the PSC chip. The data encoded on the chip is as follows: Name, Personal Public Service Number (PPSN), Photograph, Signature, Card issue number, Card expiry date, Date of birth, Sex, All former surnames (if any) of mother, Place of birth, All former surnames (if any), Nationality.”
Why do some people insist on wearing their ignorance on their sleeve like a badge of honour?!?
@Brian Lenehan: Thank you for that reply. On all information provided by government agencies none of this information in the link you provided is available. It should be.
But i note this information was given by Joan Burton in a reply to a question by Dennis Naughten in 2014.
Many things have changed since then, the answer may not apply today. There is also the history of lies been told in the Dail in reply to questions. Or where answers are economic with the actual truth. FG led governments also have a history of using lies, threats and coercion to force the public into compliance.
The way this card is being rolled out, is one more example.
Ignorance isn’t a virtue i’d be in anyway proud of, but facts about this card are deliberately kept vague, so lack of information is an acceptable excuse. Only someone in “the know” would have been able to be pointed to this information.
I have also noted from a previous reply of yours you hope this card will have to be used at the ballot box, so as to prevent those of the left being able to be elected.
I’d rather be ignorant than a fascist.
@Brian Lenehan: then the government should call it what it is, legislate and do it properly. But they wont do that would the?
@Dave Doyle: I googled it. I’m not “in the know” but I research before jumping to conclusions. Am I doing it wrong?
@Cathal Mac Einri: A National Identification Card would be one used by all organs of the State, particularly Án Garda Síochána. The Gardaí are specifically precluded from using the PSC except for their own staff.
For all information about the card, including a list of bodies who will use the card, please go to
http://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/Public-Services-Card_holder.aspx and save yourself asking needlessly irrelevant questions.
@Martin Ryan: idiot. Why is it that stupid people like you call us sheep for wanting this, when it’s stupid cows like you that keep society from moving forward! Plod plod plod, my life is so exciting that I can’t possibly let the government know what I’m up to! Dumbass
@Martin Critten:
Spelling check:
multiple
Government
We all have a PPS number i.e. A unique identifier, so what’s the problem. ? Use that and save the expenditure
@Charles Murr: is that not what they are doing? But how does say the passport office know your PPS number and how does it prove identity?
The card in itself imho is okay if is in fact treated as a national ID card and it is explicitly specified what info is on the chip
@Charles Murr: Wow the Journal clearly don’t want ID cards…. They are now referencing their own articles as evidence of “growing concern”…. No one is concerned, this is simply ridiculous.
The card is biometric it is to stop people who may have multiple identities from claiming benefits twice; as my housemate who is a Garda told me happens very regularly.
@Mick Micky: yep the journal is the best click bait site in the country. Note the pictures of politicians in suits proposing the card and the lad with the skateboard opposing it. What are they trying to imply ?!
@Charles Murr: My wife has two for some reason when she got married they issued her with another. Event the department in question couldn’t explain why at the time. So now she has two she could in theory use.
@lavbeer: It doesn’t matter what information is on the chip. Typically this type of chip holds an unique identifier and the rest of the data can be stored centrally. The chip just unlocks the data relating to that UID. That’s the issue I have with it. Because who knows what type of aggregation of data can happen behind the scenes? Potentially a Garda could stop you, and from your ID, note that you haven’t paid your TV licence, are behind on income tax repayment but have just come back from a nice holiday. So rather than let you of with a warning, might take a disliking to you.
@Paraic McDonagh: so your issue in reality is that government departments share information to build a complete picture on an individual? The card is merely the entry point to that.
When LPT was brought in they should have given a discount based on the amount still owing on the property. Huge opportunity lost there.
@lavbeer: My issue is that the card is an obvious indication that data will be aggregated more and more and tied together into one massive database. Why else would I need another ID card to apply for a driving licence or passport (which are ID in themselves) other than to aggregate data from both departments together. Then add social welfare, RTB, TV Licence etc. etc. Next we will require it to open a bank account or take out insurance and that can be aggregated too along with your medical history and mobile phone records.
@Paraic McDonagh: If you haven’t paid your TV licence and just come back from a nice holiday while still owning taxes then I am fine with the guards, or the taxman taking an increased interest, or even ‘dislike’ to you.
However, this isn’t something a guard can do as you don’t have to carry or present the card to one of them.
@B9xiRspG: She never had two. She had her own pps before she married you. Then, as was the policy at the time, she was given your pps with a W or SP at the end. Govt depts now want everyone to use their own. It is a simple process where the details from the W number are transferred to their own pps. I am surprised that was not explained as it is common knowledge.
@Cicero: Sure, but what if you hadn’t paid your TV licence legitimately because the TV you owned got frazzled in a lightning storm and you couldn’t yet afford to replace it. Your ‘holiday’ was in fact a work related trip and you entered into an arrangement with Revenue to pay your income tax in installments which is why a negative balance is showing, but you are up to date. Do you deserve negative treatment simply because your brake light is faulty? Should all that data be aggregated? Should it all be linked to a single ID card?
@Paraic McDonagh: it would serve you right.
Don’t make them compulsory, let people go without them, but those same people can’t complain when some services are denied them…. but they will.
@David: its a national ID card and we all know from the mess of IW that the information stored and gathered by these cards will be abused.
@tom: it is not a national ID card because there is no need to carry it all times nor do the Garda require you to show it.
@tom:
How do you know that from IW?
@Kal Ipers: so what makes it a national IS card? Having to carry and Garda allowing to ask for it? I googled the definition and this was typical of the first few hits. If this is used beyond DSP imho it is a national identity card. Doesn’t concern me really
A national identity card is a portable document, typically a plasticized card with digitally-embedded information, that someone is required or encouraged to carry as a means of confirming their identity.
@lavbeer: Nice to have an opinion but it doesn’t change actual facts.
@Kal Ipers: and what are the actual facts as you call them? A single card for all government services is a national ID card. Just call it.
@Nick Allen: PPS numbers Nick.
@lavbeer: I have a Bulgarian national ID card, it contains no chip, i know exactly what information is contained on it. German are the only ID cards that contain a chip as far as i know. You can be assured the German public know exactly what information is contained on the chip, and are assured that all their private personal data come under the protection of EU law.
We know nothing about this card, and have no assurances that the information contained is subject to EU protection.
@David: it’s about governing for the people not governing the people.
@Kal Ipers: what do the Garda require you to carry anyway – if driving your driving licence. Otherwise nothing. What’s the problem with that. We are a small country of less than 5m population. It’s not as if we’ve been overrun by foreign nationals. We have an address where we can be written to by public bodies if they need to.
@lavbeer: I have to wear an ID card around my neck all day long. Literally can’t take a p!ss without it.
I do this because they pay me. In the case of this public services card, it seems reasonable to use technolgy as your identifier to the government when assessing entitlements. Definitely beats the newspaper sized birth-certs with my father’s profession and mother’s maiden name.
@tom: how was it abused? Abused worse than our car tax payments being used fo water infrastructure? Are you this thick all day long??? IW should be in place with direct funding from all of us who depend on water, the same as you pay for electricity and tv. Instead now it’ll be wrapped into an already extraordinary general taxation level
@lavbeer: It is already used beyond the DSP. It is needed for a driving licence.
@Paul Coughlan:
Governing for the people would mean that there would be no tax. The people want everything for free.
That’s simply not possible. People have to be treated like idiotic sheep who can’t be trusted otherwise the government services would fall apart from lack of money.
The Brits are hardly a good example of a population which follows common sense in their social approach considering they have committed economic and social hari kari in opting for brexit.
@winston smith: the key difference is that the UK always pay attention to civil liberties, and they have political groups within parliament who examine if laws are extending into people’s rights. Here, the only public examination of whether this is a “mandatory ID card by the back door” is just from SF, who are solely anti-government and political, and a half baked response from the data protection commissioners. So far there have been two attempts at introducing this type of card, but not one attempt similar to the UK, where we can discuss if we want ID cards at all.
@winston smith:
Harakiri
In the UK there are definite connotations with WWII films and people asking to see your papers, it’s not something we do it’s something those continentals do. Here, you are good little Europeans and will ultimately fall in line with Brussels.
@Damocles: ahh the old British obsession with a war fought many moons ago. Stiff upper lip old boy.
@lavbeer: it’s a connotation. You can mock if you want. It’s easy to mock.
@Damocles:
What is wrong with an ID card?
@Damocles: Your average young fella rambling around the UK has no connection in their daily lives with WW2. National identity in UK is a very different discussion
But you are correct- easy to mock – and I am a fan of the history channel
@Nick Allen: why do you need it? If there are times when you need to prove your identity you can do so, given advance warning. The only reason you would have to have a special id card is if you might be expected to produce it on demand when some officious little twerp presumably in a peaked hat would demand it off you.
@lavbeer: when you have watched The Great Escape every year for the first dozen years of your life the connotation is burned into your psyche.
@Damocles: l
@Damocles: lol point taken
@Damocles: The right of the Gardai to demand ID from an immigrant has been deemed unconstitutional in a High Court case.
If it’s unconstitutional for the Gardai to demand ID from an immigrant, it’s even more unconstitutional for the Gardai to demand ID from from an Irish citizen.
@Dave Doyle: it has been already stated that the PSC specifically cannot be used by ÁGS except in relation to their own staff.
They are not trying to introduce these cards ,”by stealth”that would indicate a certain amount of intelligence or sensitivity they are attempting to introduce them by coercion ,
I am in favour of National Personal Identification Card for all citizens ,for security reasons and to prevent fraud.
@Brian O Reilly:
Why do you put a space before your commas?????
If you carry this card on you it will be like a tracking device big brother will know exactly where you are at all times.
@Martin Ryan: got a mobile phone? This card is to allow the aliens to zap you up. The chip connects to their zapper. They wanted people to wear the chip on their shoulder for ease of access but this was denied by Regina the Great.
@Martin Ryan: I hope that is sarcasm
@Martin Ryan:
Any chance you could explain how or are you just posting BS ?
@Nick Allen: The dept of SW insist on linking this card to your mobile phone. The reason given is for authentication purposes. This isn’t good enough. There’s a chip on the card, 120 public bodies including local authorities have access to the information on the card. Do they also have access to your private phone?
@Nick Allen: No BS if you accept this card you are ” Bagged and Tagged” make no mistake about it. Its time for a return to basics.
@Martin Ryan: You do understand there is no tracking technology that doesn’t require charging? There is no mistake what you are suggesting isn’t possible with current technology.
@Nick Allen: Of course, Big Brother loves you and will take care of you and might even pay you.
@Kal Ipers: It charges off the microwaves. That’s why you should always keep it *inside* the tin hat. Not in your pocket.
@Kal Ipers: karl if i had your IMEI from your mobile i can track and costs nothing so just imagine what the “authorities” have ?
@Martin Ryan: can you prove yourself any more stupid than you already have?!? That’s not a dare, by the way. Please stop.
@Martin Ryan:
No problem. Where will you be?
Do people in Ireland really know where could lead. On face value it is presented as a means of stopping fraud of public money. A good idea but that may not be its only objective. I am sure that that fool Doherty sees it that way but the information collected can be used in many ways. My brother lives in America I recently received a e-mail offering me information about my brother and his family in return for payment. First offer was 27 dollars and when I didn’t avail it reduced to 5 dollars. It offered details of all
his dealings with various bodies, police, medical, driving offences, etc. It insisted that I could pass the information to anybody else including my brother. It offered “special information”. I didn’t take up the offer but I have been offered maybe the same information by other companies on the net since. These are private companies and the public bodies are selling them this information.
@Brendan Keegan: What they claimed they can get and what they can actually get are 2 different things. We also have different laws here and your information cannot be sold by the government. There are hefty fines and jail sentences given for such actions.
Not only do we have are own courts and department dealing with this the European court is also there.
Effectively you just made up these claims with absolutely no evidence.
@Brendan Keegan:
If you live a clean life you have nothing to be afraid of.
the Journal, what do i have to do to get my comments posted on this issue. 3 times so far over the last two days my comments questioning this card and the way it’s being rolled out have been refused??
Looks like we have another Irish Water on our hands to warm the cockles of our hearts over the long cold winter.
Thank you Fine Gael.
@Emmet Dillane: It looks like the only way FG are capable of dealing with the public are by ways of lies, threats and coercion. They think they have learned the lessons from the IW debacle, but they haven’t. There is an internet out there that’s full of information. It tells us what our rights are regarding our personal private data being shared around government depts and public bodies that includes local authorities. We know that government depts need our express permission to share information. We know that the legislation governing identity and SW never went anywhere near cards of any description. We know there are legal and constitutional issues with bringing in national ID cards. We know no Dail debate ever took place to iron out any of the issues surrounding these supposed PSCs.
We have a right as citizens not to comply with government directives that have not properly been debated in Dail Eireann, even then if we consider a directive contravenes any of our rights, or interest, we can still refuse to comply.
Why do you need one to renew your passport or driving licence?
@lavbeer: I don’t see the cards as a bad thing at all. The point I was making is that we have a starting point as everyone is issued with a white PPS card. This PPS number is used when applying for a passport as well as any public service so I thought is that too much of a stretch to pull that info together to form the basis of identity ?
@Charles Murr: I agree with you. I haven’t a need for a PSC for a while yet so I haven’t seen mygovid as yet but it seems like the way forward and U suspect PPS is the linking number.
Just another way for the government to scrounge more money off us if you ask me , how much does it cost to get one
@James Galvin: nothing when I got mine.
@Terry McClatchey: ah well that’s different so
@James Galvin:
I suspect the people commenting here scrounge more money from the government than it scrounges from them.
Wouldn’t be like FF FG to waste tax payers money again ☺️
The fact is we need these cards to pin down a person identity for live.
There are small numbers using false identities in this country claiming social services from all over the world, so this system might help catch them out and keep other in line….
If you want freebie, such it up.
@mr pottor: guilty until proven innocent?
@mr pottor:
???? What on earth are you trying to say????
Is this card going to be another Irish Water disaster?
Another article? I have one and people really need to calm down on this. It is only an updated version of your old white social services card with your PPS number, your pic and for those with free travel it has an embedded leap card chip, that is all that’s on it. There is way more information displayed on your driving licence and your passport then on this “stealth ID” so stop with the tin hat hysteria already.
@Clever Jake: Driving licence is not accepted world wide. You need an extra documentation to say it is valid. Then a passport is not free while the PSC is. Lots of people have neither passport nor DL.
@Clever Jake: my point is people are freaking out over a simple card with your PPS number on it yet they have no issue with having a driver licence or passport which holds way more personal information about you.
@Kal Ipers: If you’re abroad, you’ll have your passport to provide as extra documentation to supplement your driving license.
@Clever Jake:
cards, not card’s
Not too clever, Jake.
All the fools who are complaining about the implications of privacy bet they use the following mobile phones facebook twitter instagram etc
@EC P Ford: Yes but you have an option of what information if any you put on social media you wont have that option with the governments card tracking device will you.
@Martin Ryan: as your profile says Martin – “Stay away from negative people. They have a problem for every solution”
For a guy that is concerned about privacy, you are voluntarily putting a lot of public info on Facebook… which is of course accessible to all govt departments also.
Also – stop embarrassing yourself with the notion that this card can be tracked. It can’t.
@Cicero: Of course it can be tracked the same way a mobile phone can be tracked and anything i put on SM is my choice and if i want to remove it i can do that too.
@Clever Jake:
Good God, Clever Jake, what in earth are you talking about?
You have to have public services to have a public services card
@JB Hackett: The IMF will have them all privatised by then lol.
Why is this thought to be so sinister? Where are examples of abuse? Or, is this just the predictable “chip on the shoulder” reaction to be told what to do to get your services? FFS!
@John Flood: and don’t forget the implanted microchip – your naïveté blinds you to the fact that this is the beginning of National ID cards (as if our driving license, passport, bank cards etc weren’t enough already?)and an incremental range of extended powers will be granted to Government. FG love this sh¥t – I’m amazed the Tories haven’t lapped this control up though May has granted increased internet surveillance, NSA style.
They will have to get everyone processed, organised and file as they data can be worth as much as gold?
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/25918ireland.pdf
Can someone please explain to me what is the fuss about? I am being serious. I do not understand why some people are against it. Majority of EU countries have ID cards in some shape or form and we do not hear any outrage about it.
@Remington: I think the beef here is that you only had to make an effort to fake your identity once in the past at the start of a claim. Now you have to maintain it and that requires effort.
Either that, or some conspiracy theories backed up with a wikipedia “1984″ quote.
have your say