Jacqui Smith, Home Surveillance Secretary, is “regularly” approached by (irrational) people who want ID cards.
However, I suspect these are representative of a tiny minority of the population, particularly now that the cost of ID cards at point of sale is estimated to be roughly double what the Government has been suggesting (ID card enrolment £30 + fingerprint enrolment £20 to £40):
Biometric enrollment fees for passports and ID cards will cost applicants £20-£40 on top of the basic price, estimates released by the Home Office revealed yesterday. In a prospectus soliciting private sector partners for enrollment, the Identity & Passport Service said that the total market for these services is worth “between £120 million and £280 million per year.” (The Register)
I say this because only 16% of people are prepared to pay for ID cards at £30, and only 2% are prepared to pay over £50.
(By the way, I’d be interested to know how Jacqui will reliably tie the biometrics registered at your supermarket to the supply of identity documents to the local IPS interrogation centre.)
Filed under: ID Cards, politicians on liberty
Because Tescos already have a database bigger and more detailed than Jacqui Smith’s.
Its called Crucible, and its run by a Tesco subsidiary Dunnhumby.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2005/sep/20/freedomofinformation.supermarkets
In the world of the Communitarians, what Tesco is doing is called Legislative Protection.
[...] by IanPJ on Tue 11 Nov 2008 19:27 GMT | Permanent Link | Cosmos I saw the following post on UK Liberty, in which it had a question at the end about Tesco, who are negotitating with the Government to [...]
[...] by IanPJ on Tue 11 Nov 2008 19:27 GMT | Permanent Link | Cosmos I saw the following post on UK Liberty, in which it had a question at the end about Tesco, who are negotitating with the Government to [...]
[...] cards, when it comes to the crunch – i.e. being made to pay over £50 for them or lose your job – hardly anyone wants them. [...]