Meta-Database and ID Card Issues
The Real Issues Behind New ID Systems and the Social Implications
May 21, 2008
ID cards have been the hot topic of the past few years with everyone forming an opinion on their inclusion as part of British society. But do ID cards pose a threat to our basic civil liberties? How has this situation come about? What will be included in ID cards and how could that information be misused?
What Information Will ID Cards Include?
It has been largely stipulated by the government that ID cards will be a step towards countering terrorism. If so, what, then will be the information included in the ID cards?
According to the government's website, ID cards will log the following information:
- Name
- Address
- Gender
- Date and place of birth
- Immigration status
- Fingerprints
- Iris pattern
- Facial image
Why Is This Disingenuous?
The real reason why many fear that the introduction of an ID card system will erode civil liberties is not, in fact, what the ID cards themselves have on them. After all, the government already has most (if not all) of this information already on file.
The creation of the ID cards, however, could give the government unprecedented powers. Using the ID card system, the government could track every single transaction you make with the civil sector. This creates a paper trail from which it can build an entire model of your life down to something as small even as what book you last took from the library. This is labelled the meta-database.
The Meta-Database
The implications of the shared register or meta-database is that the Home Office could access it at any time, for whatever reason, and add information without your consent or take it away. They could also call you to interview and, without due process, that is to say, without having to go through the courts, be able to demand your identification to be returned to them and destroyed.
How Did This Situation Come About?
This is because of the plethora of other anti-terrorism legislation the Labour government has introduced after the September 11th and July 7th terrorist attacks. Affectively, the government could take information from the meta-database and discern that a certain individual is a high risk factor, and take away their civil liberties through recalling their identification papers as a means of anti-terrorism. But if they are not held accountable to any policing, then this system could, and already is, being abused.
Becoming A Non-Person
If the government should recall your ID, you also run the risk of becoming unemployable, unable to get NHS medical treatment, with no right to vote, no ability to travel abroad or to even be classed as a British citizen. For all these things the government plans to introduce check measures, where-by your identity is confirmed in their database. Without that confirmation you are not a “person” to them, and they are not responsible for you. Should this happen, there is no real legal precedent for how you would seek help, and in fact, it would be likely that your case would go unheard.
What Should We Be Concerned About?
In summary, ID cards are not the issue that should concern the general public. Nor is it the concept of a nefarious Labour government trying to take power for themselves. They are trying to limit the possibility of terrorism whilst streamlining the way in which we interact within the civil sector. Their intentions are good. However, the real problem is how the database that this creates could in fact be abused, to the point at which specific groups of people could be targeted, be they of a certain religious denomination or sexuality, political conviction or faith, both quickly and affectively by any person who manages to infiltrate the meta-database and use it for their own ends.
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