First we have to pay for the privilege let the government hold all of our personal details in one giant database and give us a laminated card reducing our life to a magnetic strip. Then we have tthing changes and we don’t tell them asap:
Women who change their name after marriage could face fines of up to £1,000 if they fail to tell the government, under new proposals.
Anyone with a biometric passport or ID card will be required to notify the National Identity Register of changes to the personal data it holds…
Fines will also apply if cardholders fail to report their cards lost or stolen, and will be enforceable by the civil courts. (BBC)
This sort of fine is entirely inappropriate. They have no right to our information in the first place, and to fine us if we don’t tell them is entirely disgusting - even if “cardholders will usually have the fines waived if they agree to have their data updated when the errors emerge.”
Why should there be any threat of a fine if we don’t tell the State every time we change anything? Whilst I entirely understand the need to maintain records up-to-date, as such a process forms part of a my own job, I can see no justification when there is no need for us to have ID cards and for the government to hold all our data in one database in the first place.
One rather ridiculous thing is that
Homeless people wanting ID cards may be able to give their home address as a bench, bus stop or park where they are often found.
Yes, precisely. Disbelief coupled with a sigh of inevitability.
The only good thing is that
There will be no penalties, civil or criminal, for not applying for an ID card.
But for how long with this remain the case? Methinks only as long as ID cards remain pending legislation.
What about if the state gets it wrong - rather worrying phrase about “when errors emerge …” and other bits about changes of address being picked up when you try to book a flight with your credit card and the address doesn’t match the one in the ID database. If you have ever had an experience with govt. errors, you will know how hard it is to get them to a) admit they made the mistake, b) do anything about it