16 June 2003
We've been a little slow at getting this consultation response online, but the Home Office recently finished consulting on the withdrawn "Snoopers Charter" extension to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Act, that we campaigned over last summer.
As you might expect, we had a few words to say on the matter. Whilst we've not managed to make a nice HTML version yet, you can read the Word doc we submitted to the Home Office (130kb) until we do. Or you could go on to look at the mess the Home Office still seems to be getting itself into about ID cards, below…
31st May 2003
Yes, it appears that — either by having outdated figures, or by counting all the STAND-relayed submissions as one collective statement — the government is claiming much lower (and more positive) figures for their ID card consultation than our statistics indicate. We've written them a letter to find out more, and are currently pursuing a couple of other channels to get an answer. In the mean time, if you wrote a submission via STAND and wouldn't mind it being used publically by us as an example of the contributions made through the service, mail us at stand@stand.org.uk. We'll get in touch if we need to. Thanks!
31st Jan 2003
The Government's consultation on "Entitlement" Cards has now closed. Many thanks to the thousands of people who took the time and effort to write a response to the Home Office's proposals and/or let their MP know about their feelings regarding ID Cards.
The proof of the pudding is in the legislating, but it certainly looks like you all had an impact. The Government's rhetoric has moved rapidly since just before Christmas when Lord Falconer's over-hasty self-congratulation woke us up.
Over 5000 of you responded to the ID card consultation via this website, of which several thousand went on to use FaxYourMP.com to inform their MP of their concerns.
Allow yourselves a brief, gentle glow of pride… but keep 'em peeled.
You can download the STAND.org.uk submission to the Government's Entitlement Cards Consulation as a 400k Word doc or there's also a (somewhat bloated) 350k HTML version, if you prefer.
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10th Jan 2003
Hands up everybody who's really excited about the
introduction of universal Identity Cards for every man,
woman and child in the country!
No?
Well, that can't be right. Lord Falconer says that in one of the widest ranging consultations conducted by a government, they've been fair swamped with positive endorsements of the Government's Entitlement Card plans.
With just a few days to go before the end of the consultation, the Home Office is saying that overall the public's reaction is hugely positive.
The cynics amongst you might comment that that's because the only people who have been really gee-ed up about downloading a 13MB PDF (here's the HTML version we knocked up), scrutinising its every word and then writing up their fascinating points of view are those with an axe to grind about ID cards in the first place. Like the IT companies who are desperate to sell the government a brand new solution. Or the civil servants who've been hankering after this massive simplification of their dozens of databases for decades. Or the private companies like credit agencies who would dearly love to have a single ID to store all the data they're collecting on you.
Or, even, those in power who'd love to have a single place they could find the name, address and personal details of every person in the country or prevent them accessing vital state services with a flick of a switch.
And we think you'd be right.
In fact, as a cynic — in particular, a cynic who uses computers — we think you're desperately unrepresented in this consultation.
We've listed some of the more cynical (and, we think, accurate) truths about ID Cards for your consumption below. If some of them — or even if none of them — meet with your gritty, realistic approval, then just click 'Next Step…'. You'll then be able to draft your own formal consultation response.
Confirm that draft, and we'll send your comments directly to the Home Office's Entitlement Card Department and they'll get incorporated into the final report.
Will it change much? Maybe: ID Cards are one of those ideas that the public never votes on, but governments always propose. When you're a minister, having an easy-to-get-at list of everyone in the country sounds a terrific idea. But when you find out quite how many people don't share that opinion, you're tempted to think again. Especially when those people are voters.
Oh, sure, that's us speaking cynically. But cynically speaking, we think, is better than not speaking at all.
You can find the old STAND homepage here.