Identity Cards
We had a lively evening when we discussed the possible introduction of identity cards.
Firstly, we thought about how we 'identify' ourselves - whether it is by name, appearance, occupation or other role.
Then we thought about how we know who we are, how it would feel to have our identity stolen, how much memory identifies us and the number of different documents we have for various purposes. Each of these documents needs different 'proof' of identity and this information is stored by various official organisations from Passport Offices to dentists.
We looked at the Government's proposals for the introduction of Identity Cards which will be rolled out gradually starting from November 2008 with some foreign nationals at airports. The cards will be voluntary for most people although it will be compulsory for some groups.
The cards will have biometric information (fingerprints and iris recognition) as well as some other basic information and a photograph. There will be different organisations involved in the production of the cards and our personal information will be kept in three different places which should help security issues.
At the start of the evening we had a vote and 2 people were for the introduction of these cards, 4 were against and 6 did not know. At the end we voted again and 0 people were for the cards, 5 were against and 7 people did not know.
Thank you to the two members who presented the evening and led us in what proved to be a good discussion of this complex subject.
