Be Excellent To Each Other

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/18/id_card_end/


I'm with the Reg on this; delaying it until after the Election is tacit admission the project is dead.

so you don't use id cards in the uk?

No need.

No need. We know what Brazillian electricians look like.

We have photo driving licenses at the moment.

FTFY!

And the ones that don't have passports.

FTFY!

I think we should suggest a photo card, that every one can have that is not a driving license or a passport

Why?

But why do we NEED an ID card at all?

Civil Liberties, freedom and all that?

Here we go again.

Just because you broke your laptop and are Mr Moody-Britches this morning, don't spoil our fun.

Damn, my less-than-subtle attempt to initiate some drama has failed.

So... that ComicalGames eh?

Why not, it would be nice to have a standard. I mean just a card, not the database they want to use.

For me I am used to carrying ID, but for others I can see the problem.

If it cuts down on fraud etc, is it not a good thing?

So how would it cut down on fraud?

The BAD thing about it, is making it mandatory and making us pay for it.

"Papers!"

To me, all the civil liberties discussions are moot anyway. My primary objection all along has been: when has the government ever spent this much on an IT project and not cocked it up?

Hard to pretend to be someone else I suppose...

Which government IT projects have been cocked up?

i've always had one, and i never felt my rights were being stepped on. In fact, the older cards even had your fingers prints on them

Are you fucking real?!

Child Support Agency: http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/ ... ailure.htm

Department of Transport: http://blogs.zdnet.com/projectfailures/?p=1187

NHS: http://management.silicon.com/governmen ... 638,00.htm

Inland Revenue: http://management.silicon.com/governmen ... 294,00.htm

"Erm no, I meant terrorism. That's right, it'll cut down on that".

What's the company you work for again?

Every single one of them.

Don't forget the ambulances, Doc. And Airwave (the police digital radio system, not the chewing gum).

Oh well. I'm sure they can produce a gas bill or something. We'll manage.

yes Doc I am real, and I was asking as the IR was not cocked up..

And I belive you have listed only a small percentage of the IT project done for the government. A lot have been a success.

Apprently the ones that keep coking up government IT projects yet we still win new ones..

Hard to belive what is in the press right?

...I'd like to read a list of the successes...cos I can't think of many.

Put us right then!

The smaller ones, yes. But a significant number of the *major* IT projects have gone titsup. Mostly the ones involving EDS and Crapita. Do you read Private Eye?

One of the big successes is the current MoD project.
Job Centre, Benifit agency, JC+
Prison Service
Court Services., Ministry of Justice.
Inland Revenue other than the Tax Credits was a success.

There the ones I know of.. I wait to be proved wrong...
Computer weekly hate us, so always a good place to start

No, I work for EDS

EDIT: I wrote this is an angry rant, then realised everyone already knows this, so there was no point at all writing it. But then I thought I'll submit it for the hell of it anyhow. Just ignore this Titler post. Cheers.

A voluntary standard ID card for people who can't drive and don't want to leave the country, but still want an easy form of ID is a great idea (but arguably a waste of public money when people could just get passports anyhow).

The ID card scheme they have in place is the worst idea I've ever heard off. It isn't voluntary* and it has the most insidious of databases attached to it. And it doesn't make any sense economically, let alone in a recession, if anything it will make organised fraud a lot easier (the tech is pretty much already hacked and it is putting all the eggs in one basket) the biometrics is easily fooled (photo held up to cameras for example) and the effect on civil liberties is atrocious.

* I loved the 'trial' they did with pilots claimed it was voluntary but then told the pilots that if they didn't have one they couldn't come to work. Ace.

If the Job Centre/Benefit Agency stuff works so well (I'm not saying it doesn't mind) then why do we need id cards to reduce benefit fraud?

So that's where the money goes!

Are there other types of fraund, and not evey one claims benifit?

Keeps me in beer and pizza

Is it bad that I kinda want the tories to win, just so ID cards die? Also isn't this two weeks to the day that Smith 'quit'? I suspect there were 'thick of it' style meetings where they discussed how long they could wait before starting to kill her little ID project. Woo!



Your answers are amazing.

Thanks, you only stipulated one sort of fraud.

All those people coming up to her in the street will be so disappointed.

Oh i nearly for got the Oyster system was EDS.. Does that not work ok?

And Class A drugs, it seems.

oops

Well 1% error is not bad is it?

No just happy...

And that's not even an eleventy billion pound government database!

Would the headlines read: "650,000 lose identities due to system crash"?

Thus far the argument for ID cards seems to be: "Well, it will decrease fraud (but not benefit fraud because our current system is awesome at that, honest, guv). And decrease terrorism."

I've yet to see much convincing evidence of either.

Ha ha ha! if I ever meet her in the street I'm totally doing that.

"OH MRS SMITH! I'm SO APPALLED THAT THEY ARE LEAVING THE ID CARDS TILL AFTER THE ELECTION DO YOU HAVE ANY SPARE ONES ON YOU AT THE MOMENT CAN I HAVE ONE CAN I CAN CAN I? I LOVE THEM SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH?

WHO AM I?! WHO AM I!?!"



Yes I did. As I was talking about benefit fraud. One type of fraud that is linked to ID cards a lot.

I never said I liked the database idea.

But there is a big difference from cards not working to data being lost.

I am in favour of the card, just not the amount of data they want to tie into it.

I am entitled to my opinion, even if others disagree..

I think we are on the same page there Kovacs.

Except I think the card is a waste of money (but a perfectly fine idea if ACTUALLY optional and not tethered to a database).