[Gllug] re: USA / civil liberties etc

[Richard Jones]

On Mon, May 01, 2006 at 12:49:57PM +0100, Alain Williams wrote:
> I want an ID card - but one that I own & control.

Yes, my take on this is that an identity-proving card would be useful
in some circumstances.  Private companies could have been encouraged
to make cards, and the role of the govt would have been to set
standards for anti-counterfeiting and interoperability.  If the cards
are truly as useful as the govt says, then people would have been
wanting to get these cards.  Private companies are happy.  There's
competition, reducing prices.  And the govt not only saves a huge
amount of money (a regulator of this sort would cost a few million,
vs. billions estimated for the ID card system), but also avoids the
political trouble around the scheme, because it's acting at arm's
length.

The fact that the govt _hasn't_ done this makes me think there's one
of two things going on: either they really want a huge database of
everyone because they stupidly believe that nannying like this would
actually be better for everyone; or (a more sinister thought) like the
Iraq war it's really an exercise in distributing cash from the public
purse to favoured private contractors and corporations.

Rich.

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Richard Jones, CTO Merjis Ltd.
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