US to access UK ID details?

The USA has asked that any UK ID card be compatible with its own chip readers, to avoid spending money on a “VHS and Betamax” situation. Sound reasonable? Well, remember that this would probably also involve the US having access to the personal data behind that ID, reports The Register. I’m not happy about the amount of data the UK government wants to keep on its national ID database (far more than is needed just for identification), and the idea of the USA having access, too, is simply frightening – especially in light of its current human rights record in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan and Iraq. A nation so willing to use torture, intimidation and humiliation on anyone who isn’t both a US citizen and “the right sort” hasn’t got the moral right to demand access to personal data on non-US citizens.

pax et bonum

Article posted at 12:26pm on 31 May 2005
Category: Politics, Struggling, General

Be afraid, be very afraid.

The US government should not be trusted in way. It sounds like they are trying to inernationalize the “Patriot Act” in some way, in order to “keep America safe.” They already have the power, here, to get library records, internet activity logs, and other semi-private information WITHOUT HAVING TO SHOW DUE CAUSE.

If there is any way to lobby your representatives to refuse US access to those records, it will be worth the time spent.

Bill () (URL)
9:00pm on 31 May 2005