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DeliciousPoll suggests ID scheme opposition
Monday, December 15, 2008A new poll for the campaign group NO2ID has indicated that support for ID cards is significantly less than last week's Home Office poll on ID cards.
NO2ID's poll asked respondents what they thought of storing information on large computer systems and sharing it between different parts of government. Almost two-thirds thought it was a bad idea, while 31 per cent said it was a good idea. NO2ID, who have periodically asked the same question since June 2005, said this shows support for the National Identity Scheme (NIS) has "steadily declined".
These results contrasted with a Home Office poll last week, which showed 55 per cent in support of ID cards. Previous Home Office polls had shown support in almost two-thirds of respondents.
"Support for ID cards is already under 50 per cent. Even the government's own biased surveys now show falls in support. The more people know, the less they like it. Once it is common knowledge that the ID scheme is designed to pass around the information it collects about you, then the scheme is politically doomed," said Phil Booth, NO2ID's national coordinator.
In response, an Identity and Passport Service spokesman told Public Servant Daily: "Identity cards are already a reality, bringing benefits to the individual and the country by reducing identity fraud and related crime, including illegal working.
"IPS is committed to the highest standards of data security which is why latest research shows 63 per cent of people trust us with their personal information."
"Our quarterly surveys are the most robust and regular research into levels of awareness and support for identity cards, showing over more than 18 months that an average of 59 per cent are in favour of the scheme."
ICM Research interviewed a random sample of 1001 adults aged 18+ by telephone between December 3rd-5th 2008. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults.
Id cards as mandated in the ID cards act are most certainly not a reality.
There is no database, which is after all the driver and most offensive part of this legislation. What is a reality is an expensive fancy visa, and anyone who says otherwise is (ahem) being disingenious.
bob - birmingham
Perhaps the spokesman for IPS could show you his ID card if he believes they are already a reality.
The reality, as Bob says, is they are issuing residence permits, with an eventual entry on the NIR (National Identity Register) database whenever the Home Office manages to cobble it all together. Counter-productive Home Office ID cards will just bring us costs, not "benefits". They will take away our freedoms for a supposed security that the Home Office is incapable of giving us (out here, in the real world, we call such a false trade fraud). They give the Home Secretary the means to punish people without all that awkward business of collecting evidence and making a case in court. As people find out more about the scheme, and the way that the Home Office operates, support is steadily ebbing away as the Home Office tracking data shows. I just hope we can manage to vote them out of existence at the next general election.
BTW To see IPS boasting that 37% of people DON'T trust them with their personal data is hilarious, or at least it would be if it weren't so sad and pitiful.
jonathon - Ipswich
We are used to claims from IPS and their predecessors that ID cards will prevent identity theft, for example, and benefit fraud and illegal working and crime and terrorism.
These are long-dated promises. And dubious promises at that – there is no reason to believe that the NIS can deliver any of these benefits, even when it is a reality.
But for the moment, it is not a reality, there is no NIS, there are no ID cards, the police aren't linked to the NIR, DWP aren't linked to the NIR, employers and banks and retailers aren't linked to the NIR, not least because there is no NIR. The NIS is just a plan, an expression of wishful thinking.
Roll-out of the ID card scheme is due to start in earnest in 2012 and is geared to the renewal of 10-year passports. By 2022, 80% of the population over the age of 16 might have an ID card. If we are to rely on the NIS to prevent 80% of identity theft &c, then we have to hold our breath and hope, for the next 14 years.
publicservice.co.uk published an article yesterday, 'Poll suggests ID scheme opposition', discussing the conflicting findings of two sets of polls. According to IPS, 59% of people are consistently in favour of the NIS, while No2ID find that the figure is more like 31%.
We are used to that, too.
But something changed yesterday. The publicservice.co.uk article also includes this:
... an Identity and Passport Service spokesman told Public Servant Daily: "Identity cards are already a reality, bringing benefits to the individual and the country by reducing identity fraud and related crime, including illegal working".
If the unnamed spokesman is talking about IPS's NIS-type ID cards, then this is manifestly false. IPS's ID cards are not already a reality. They do not exist. They are a figment of IPS's imagination. It follows that they cannot already be bringing benefits to individuals and to the country, and the IPS spokesman must be deluded.
It is lonely at IPS. No-one will talk to them and they have no successes to their name. That's not surprising. They don't try very hard – in fact, it's hard to see that they have achieved anything at all in the past six years, they and their predecessors. They have consistently set themselves very low targets and failed to reach even that undemanding standard.
But, especially at Christmas, we must be charitable when we see the disastrous effects unending failure has on people's mental stability. IPS have now apparently entered a fantasy world. It seems that they have moved from believing that ID cards will bring certain benefits to believing that they are already delivering those benefits.
Their spokesman is emitting a cry for help. They need treatment, and we cannot honourably stand by and ignore the suffering of our fellow human beings, not at Christmas, not at any time. Wouldn't it be better if IPS were put out of their misery now?
David Moss - London/UK/BCSL
@jonathon in Ipswich:
Very well said.
Andrew Watson - NO2ID