ID cards 'a steam-driven solution in the digital age'
19 June 2007
Privacy and civil liberties campaigners this afternoon slated Home Office
Minister Liam Byrne's claim [1] that the National Identity System will be
the 21st century equivalent of the railways or the National Grid.
Phil Booth, NO2ID [2] National Coordinator, said:
"Mr Byrne hasn't a clue what the world will look like in 2020. But a
lumbering, costly ID scheme that nationalises personal identity is a
steam-driven solution in the digital age.
"It is crazy to say that the best way to "protect" our identities is to give
them to the Home Office - the department of screw-up and cover-up - to look
after. These are the last people on earth you should trust to keep your
information safe."
- ENDS -
Notes to Editors
1) At Chatham House this morning. See
http://press.homeoffice.gov.uk/Speeches/sc-identity-21st-century for full
text of speech.
2) NO2ID is the UK-wide non-partisan campaign against ID cards and the
database state. Scroll down
http://www.no2id.net for a list of ‘database
state’ initiatives that NO2ID is actively opposing. NO2ID is affiliated to
by the National Union of Journalists:
http://www.nuj.org.uk/inner.php?docid=1595For further information, or for immediate or future interview, please
contact Phil Booth (National Co-ordinator,
national.coordinator@no2id.net)
on 07974 230 839, Guy Herbert (General Secretary,
general.secretary@no2id.net) on 07956 544 308, or Michael Parker (Press
Officer,
press.officer@no2id.net) on 07773 376 166.
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