PI Statement on UK ID Card Plans - "Will Create Mass Criminality"

23/11/2004

IDENTITY CARD WILL CREATE AN ERA OF MASS CRIMINALITY

Government proposals will drive millions of people underground and will
create a vast criminal infrastructure


23rd November 2004

For immediate release

The leading international critic of identity cards today warned that the UK
government¹s ID proposals will create an unprecedented opportunity for
organised crime and a huge expansion of the black and grey economy.

Simon Davies, Director of Privacy International, warned: "The government's
proposals will be a gift to organised crime. Hundreds of thousands of
illegal immigrants will be driven underground and will be ripe for
exploitation by criminal interests. They will join hundreds of thousands of
UK citizens who fear state intrusion into their lives and who will not
accept the ID card".

"Millions of UK citizens have expressed their alarm over the proposals. Many
people have told Privacy International that they will accept an ID card only
at the point of a gun".

A poll commissioned by PI earlier this year through YouGov indicates that 20
per cent of the population will actively resist the ID card. 3 per cent said
they would go to jail rather than carry a card. There is widespread concern
over the development of national ID database and the use of biometrics.

"The implementation of an ID system is repugnant to millions of people.
Millions more will be unwilling or unable to apply for one. Those people
will be driven into a thriving underground criminal economy", said Mr
Davies.

In 2004 Privacy International released a study on the relationship between
ID cards and counter-terrorism. It concluded that eighty percent of the top
terrorist target countries have long-standing ID cards, most incorporating
biometrics.

"The ID card proposal is a dangerous sham", said Mr Davies. "It will
increase the threat of crime and terrorism while diverting much-needed
resources from police and security services".

Related:
UK ID Cards Home Page
ID Cards Home Page
Privacy International Statement on Tory Support of ID Card
UK ID Card moving forward despite significant opposition
Japan’s National ID Card Falls Flat
UK Information Commissioner Warns of ID Cards and Surveillance Society
Biometric Passports to Pay for UK ID Cards, says Blunkett
Blair ID card trashed at public meeting
UK Parliament approves first stage of ID legislation
UK Parliamentary Committee Releases Report Damning ID System
ID Card Poll reveals deep public anger (PDF)
Privacy International's response to the Draft Identity Cards Bill
Missing ID: Public Meeting on UK ID Card