[aldo_14]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/04/early_passport_renewal_blocked/

[q]
The new UK Identity and Passport Service, spawned out of the Passport Service after the ID Cards Act became law on Saturday, has celebrated its birth by trying to stop people renewing their passports whenever they want to, whether or not the passport is about to expire. The change in terms and conditions has been slipped into the website without announcement, and is quite clearly ID card related.
[/q]

[Flipside]

Well, I've got to replace my passport which was lost about 6 months ago, so I better go get the paperwork today...

[karajorma]

Mysterious chip failures, in any event, may show some promise as a passive resistance route immediately prior to the introduction of the ID register. Obviously, if you discover your chip is broken, then as a conscientious citizen you should tell them and get it replaced. Nor does it seem reasonable, seeing it's their kit that's failed, for them to charge you for it. So how do the smartarses wriggle their way out of that one?

I see the rise of new passport chip breaking craze. A few slaps against a hard surface should be more that enough to break the chip without doing any damage whatsoever to the passport itself. Plus if enough people break them it will appear as if the chips themselves are defective

[SadisticSid]

It's worth having a look through the report mentioned in the article. It shows just how much the Home Office want to turn identity into its own personal franchise. It's times like these that make me think if Al Quaeda were to nuke a major western population centre tomorrow, it'd STILL have less impact on our lives than governments' lingering, overblown reactions to 9/11.

[aldo_14]

I'm not going to get a (replacement) passport or Id card, even when compulsary, but if I did I'd microwave it and then keep it wrapped in tinfoil.  Of course, once they tie it into the driving licenses system, I'm ****ed, because I can't do without that.

[kasperl]

aldo: emigrate.

Or, depending on preference, learn to avoid police checks.

[aldo_14]

aldo: emigrate.

Or, depending on preference, learn to avoid police checks.

But I just got a job here!

[Rictor]

So the id card thingy went through? Shame.

[SadisticSid]

It has, although the scheme won't really come into effect until 2008, and even then, there'll be 5 years of development work done by the cheapest (i.e. most incompetent) bidder for the IT contract. I note that the Tories have pledged to scrap ID cards the moment they get into office, but the next general election is a long ways off and anything could happen in the next 3 years, and as we all know, manifesto commitments from any party have about as much weight as a whore claiming virginity.

[aldo_14]

So the id card thingy went through? Shame.

Not exactly.  In a stunningly helpful compromise by the House of Lords, having an Id card with passport is not compulsary until 2010..... but having your details entered into the national ID register/tracking and oppression database is.  ****ing brilliant, eh?

[Ford Prefect]

aldo: emigrate.

Or, depending on preference, learn to avoid police checks.

Yeah, man, come to the USA. Civil liberties are being expanded like never before. I promise.

[kasperl]

I was more looking at antartica, siberia, or maybe Canada when talking about that.

Anything EU or US seems a bad idea at the moment.

Aldo: Congrats on the job, then. Learn to cycle?

[karajorma]

As I said before I've got no plans to let the wankers in charge of this country run me out of my home.

[Rictor]

aldo: emigrate.

Exactly! I hear that under the sea is a popular destination.

Under the sea,
Under the sea.
There'll be no accusations,
Just friendly crustaceans.
Under the sea!

edit: It's times like these that it's a pity Britain has no sort of organized crime syndicate. That's how civilized countries do it: if some politician gets too big for his boots, boom boom and problem solved. It's a lot easier than, say, parliamentary politics or coming up with enough material to successfuly blackmail him.

[Grug]

Doggedly (ahem) pursuing an FOIA request The Scotsman tells us that the Home Office's claim of 69 per cent enthusiasm for ID cards in Scotland was based on a sample size of 158 people. Impressive, no? No. The paper might also have added that the Home Office document in question, Identity Cards Trade Off Research - Final Report wasn't actually a survey of whether or not people wanted ID cards, but was conducted in order to assess awareness and demand for a scheme which was happening anyway, and to identity 'sweet spots' the Home Office could use to sell the scheme better to people. Have a look yourself - it's clearly a piece of marketing research geared to figuring out how best to sell you the soap, not about whether or not you wanted it.

That's ****ed. =/
Global revolt!
Rise up brothers!

[Kosh]

Not even China has a system like this.......

[aldo_14]

Not even China has a system like this.......

China to Use RFID for 1.3 Billion ID Cards

[Singh]

What's the big deal with ID cards anyway? We have em in Singapore and nobody complains about them; apart from the ridiculous costs to replace em if they get lost

[Grug]

What's the big deal with ID cards anyway? We have em in Singapore and nobody complains about them; apart from the ridiculous costs to replace em if they get lost

It's the principal behind it. The people don't  really want it, the government hardly asks the people and just imposes it upon us. Plus its a door opening to restrict further freedoms from us.
"No papers? Come with us..."

Especially if it gets to that extreme.
I see some use, and even convenience in them, but on the other hand I see many possible ways for it to be abused. Also, still no one has made a clear response as to why we need them.
If the UK is getting them, then Australia is no doubt soon to follow.

[Mefustae]

"No papers? Come with us..."

For some reason, when I read that I pictured a bespectacled German man saying that to someone getting off a train...