Investigate The Pros & Cons of ID Cards

Using the internet I have researched exactly what is being proposed by the UK Government and what the objections are. T

he following is a list of all the ICT that is involved in the UK’s proposed card scheme: a large data database, biometric information, DNA testers, fingerprint readers etc.

The purpose of ID cars is meant to be that it will make surveillance and identification of people much easier and reduce crime as they can be tracked easily. It will meet this purpose because they will be issued to everybody within the UK and will hold a number of pieces of individual unique information including your personal information, identifying information, residential status, personal reference numbers, record history, registration, ID card history, validation information, security information and records of provision of information.

The advantages of such a system are:
· Identity verification in banks or at national borders
· Quick ownership or eligibility verification
· False identification may be reduced where identity cards are required to open a bank account.
· Identity cards can be a useful administrative tool that can increase efficiency in dealings with both the government and private companies.
· ID cards reduce crime.
· Cards may help reduce immigration service bureaucracy.
· All humans already carry personal identification, which cannot be discarded or falsified, DNA.

The drawbacks of such a system are:
· Identity cards impose a disproportionate burden upon both government and citizens
· Cards with centralised database could be used to track anyone's movements and private life, thus endangering privacy.
· A requirement to carry an identity card at all times can lead to the inconvenience of arbitrary requests from the police.
· Government claims that identity cards will prevent crimes; however, this is not be based on facts, only opinions.
· Historically, governments which issued identity cards to citizens used them forcefully, for example, Nazi Germany.
· In many cases, other forms of documentation such as a driver's license or passport, card serve a similar function on a more limited scale, and thus an ID card is not needed.
· The cost of introducing and administering an identity card system can be very high. Figures from £30 to £90 or even higher have been suggested for the proposed UK ID card.
· In some countries where ID cards are required to show religious affiliation or ethnic background, this can lead to cases of discrimination.
· Some schemes do not take into account whether people have legitimate reasons to conceal their identity.

My personal recommendation as to whether we should have ID cards is that they are not necessary, because the majority of people have a passport or other forms of identification which work as a form of ID, and as mentioned above, there will only be one document that needs to be produced fraudulently, whereas today you need a number of documents to prove your identity which can be harder to produce a number of convincing documents, and the overall cost of the system is huge, even tough the Government will be footing the bill.