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Leaked Government Doc Reveals UK ID "Coercion" Plans
Posted by
ScuttleMonkey
on Fri Feb 01, 2008 02:34 PM
from the sanity-is-not-statistical dept.
from the sanity-is-not-statistical dept.
BoingBoing is relating a hair-raising tale from the UK anti-ID-register group 'NO2ID' that claims to have a leaked government document [PDF] detailing how the UK government plans to "coerce" citizens into a national ID register. "UK campaigners NO2ID this morning enlisted the help of bloggers across the world to spread a leaked government document describing how the British government intends to go about "coercing" its citizens onto a National Identity Register. The 'ID card' is revealed as little more than a cover to create a official dossier and trackable ID for every UK resident - creating what NO2ID calls 'the database state'."
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24 years behind schedule... (Score:2, Interesting)
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Re:24 years behind schedule... (Score:5, Informative)
Big Brother was British.
Parent
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Comrade Brown, however, most surely is British. (sadly)
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Winston lived within sight of the Ministry of Truth, where he worked, not the Party headquarters. In fact it wasn't clear whether there even was a headquarters, but most of the Inner Party members lived in West London and the headquarters could easily have been in America for that matter. Airstrip One used to be known as Great Britain (i.e., the whole island), not London. London was still called London in Winston's time, and he speculated that it had probably been called that for a long time.
The novel
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>Big Brother was British.
As was Orwell, who was satirizing his contemporary view of British society and government by framing it into a dystopian futuristic novel. But the situation that provoked him to write 1984 was his Labour party job that required him to participate in blacklisting people suspected of being communists. It turns out the real "Big Brother" actually *was* watching his every move and keeping detailed records, and that he really did have to write blatant fabrications on behalf of the g
Ironically.... (Score:4, Interesting)
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Hmm...sounds quite reminiscent of the US's upcoming version...the RealID act. In our case, they're just calling them drivers licenses....but, if you don't drive, you still need an ID that fits in with the RealID act. So, it really is a national ID, hooked to a national, govt. database.
Might be advantageous... (Score:4, Insightful)
Of course, getting past the initial screening may not be trivial--but investigation into that avenue may be worthwhile.
Do it the easy way. (Score:3, Insightful)
Find someone involved in issuing them who has a gambling / drug / sex / whatever problem who can be bought / blackmailed.
The whole system breaks down when it depends upon the honesty of people.
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They outright want to go back to the middle age serfdoms where people are owned, they see the 20th century as a nasty period when almost all would have went wrong for them.
Being bribe able is a work prescription you need to have to be able to do certain jobs like being a politician, no honest person is able to do that job, being non bribe able ma
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I'll grant you that many policies don't do a damned thing while che
Broken link (Score:4, Informative)
Missing authorship information (Score:2, Informative)
There's a noticeable lack of authorship details. It notes that various government departments have "contributed to" the options analysis, but I read that as simply saying that people from those departments have been interviewed in the course of performing this analysis.
Does anybody know who actually produced this report? I'd hardly call the government a bunch of liars for opinions expressed in a report produced by outside contractors, but without any reason to believe otherwise, that's what this sound
Re:Missing authorship information (Score:5, Informative)
I take it back, the IPS [wikipedia.org] are responsible for this, I just didn't spot it because it was written in the third-person.
Parent
Re:Missing authorship information (Score:5, Funny)
Asshole!
Parent
This is why we NEED the ID program (Score:4, Funny)
http://vancouvercondo.info [vancouvercondo.info]
Parent
boycotting people with ID (Score:4, Interesting)
RealID (Score:2)
Be warned that the same effort is underway in the US through a push for the RealID legislations with the same sinister goals in mind.
NO worries (Score:5, Funny)
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Coercion (Score:4, Insightful)
Put it this way: If the people actually volunteered to hand over their money and follow the aribtrary rules set forth by a central committee, then government would be entirely redundant. The reason why government exists is precisely because the people would not voluntarily hand over their money and follow that arbitrary set of rules.
Again, coercion is the fundamental tool which all governments MUST hold -- otherwise it ain't government.
Re:Coercion (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
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Will you be allowed to sign on if you are unable to get a job because you don't have an ID card?
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ah yes... (Score:2)
Who cares? (Score:5, Insightful)
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That sounds even worse. At least with a properly functioning sy
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Alert the press! Alert the watchdog groups!
This can't be allowed to happen, again!
Awesome (Score:2, Interesting)
After reading the PDF (I know it is against /. rules...) I have two questions:
1. Where can I sign up for the US version
2. Can the US integrate out system into theirs??? That would only help to protect us all!!!
I mean, after all, I am looking for all of the following:
1. I want to know that I have the right to be here
2. I want to know who you "really" are
3. I want to join a service that meet my needs
4. I want to be able to prove who I am
P.S. I want to point out my sarcasm, as my last few posts li
Was the pithy commentary really necessary? (Score:5, Insightful)
Frankly, the commentary sounds like the rantings of some extremist, conspiracy-theorist wanker, and does nothing but muddy the issues, not to mention make reading the document more difficult, as I have to wade through their irritating scribblings.
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Be careful what you ask for; the Government will probably choose MS SQL Server... DOH! :-)
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I do understand what you are saying, but consider this...
as long as I was in control of all my own information - You are in control of your information when you live in democracy where your elected representatives control and govern the actions and the scope of government. If you think that government has too much or too little information, you call your representative or try get yourself elected.
It could be certified for accuracy by a trusted outside party - That would be the government.
I'd have to a
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I think that the problem both in UK and in US is that people don't truest their government. I don't know if this is because of history of wrong doing in part of the government, or because of television and movies...
Unfortunately, I think that in the U.S. at least, most people *do* trust the government. I don't, and a lot of people here on /. don't, but I think that is more because history has shown again and again that governments that are not kept in check by their constituents tend to become abusive. In fact, the relative freedom that western societies have enjoyed for the last several generations are an historical aberration; one that I *don't* want to see corrected.
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I think that the problem both in UK and in US is that people don't truest their government. I don't know if this is because of history of wrong doing in part of the government, or because of television and movies people automatically assume that anything new or something that makes governing efficient is an grand scale conspiracy to enslave the nation.
My personal feeling is that democracy scales poorly, or at least not very smoothly, particularly in diverse populations. Democracy is predicated on the idea of compromise; of people finding a solution that works for everyone involved. If you have too many groups with radically different ideas of how the government should be run, to the point where a compromise between them can't be found, you start to get disenfranchisement and mistrust when "your" people aren't in power. The U.S. has throughout most of
You will get fooled again. (Score:2, Insightful)
You think a revolution is going to help? Replacing one government with another is only a temporary reprieve. Once the generation that dragged the last batch of tyrants to the guillotine dies off, people will forget what happened and grow complacent. They'll go back to saying "there ought to be a law" every time something doesn't go the way they think it should, and a new bunch of tyrants will corrupt the new government. Every revolution, even the American revolution of 1776, is a case of "Meet the New Boss,
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Holding the government at gunpoint. (Score:5, Insightful)
I agree with you concerning the Framers' reasons for including the Second Amendment. However, I have to ask you why you think that simply overthrowing an oppressive government and replacing it will do any long-term good? Do you think that leading Congress to the guillotine will work in a country where most people, thanks to public education, think that consistent respect for individual rights means leaving poor people to starve to death in the streets?
The American revolution was as successful as it was because of the people behind it, and I'm not just talking about the heroes you read about in school. Just about everybody in the colonies had at least a nodding acquaintance with the ideas of thinkers like John Locke and Thomas Paine.
An armed rebellion today would fail miserably, because most of the people are beholden to the government. They either get money directly from the government, or they work in industries that receive government subsidies. Do you think, for example, that public school teachers will do anything but teach the children in their ever-so-tender care that the rebels are anything but villains?
Before you can have a revolution, you need a people on fire with the lust for liberty. We don't have that, for the most part. Most people, if you were to tell them that it was possible to have a government that did not rob Peter in order to provide Paul with a welfare check, would laugh at you. Suggest repealing the income tax, and the first thing you'll hear is "how will the government replace those 'lost revenues', as if the government was ever morally entitled to that money in the first place.
A revolution won't work right now. The people are not ready; they do not burn with a passionate need for freedom.
Parent
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Americans take careful note, don't allow things to get this far in the US.
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Well, at this point, you don't have to give out your SS number, or have it scanned for travelling by airplane. Or soon...to be scanned when buying booze, or entering a bar...or maybe after that, for any CC transaction to validate identity.
You aren't forced to carry it with you at all times, and have that number associated with many actions you take today in every day life. It can't really be u
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Since you say social security number, I assume that you are an American citizen. You do know what the USA do with every foreigner entering the country, I assume? Taking 10 (!) fingerprints! Plus a scan of your passport, storing your credit card number, plus any other