ID cards - good thing or a bad thing? (minority, Zen)

[darkpenguin]

just wondering what peoples views are on compulsory ID cards and dna sampling in the uk.
Personaly i think it's a good idea and the only people who would opose such a thing are people with things to hide, such as illegal immigrants and employers and criminals! I think for the safety of the country that its a good idea!
I'm open to peoples views on this matter!

[Quoth The Raven]

Originally Posted by darkpenguin

just wondering what peoples views are on compulsory ID cards and dna sampling in the uk.
Personaly i think it's a good idea and the only people who would opose such a thing are people with things to hide, such as illegal immigrants and employers and criminals! I think for the safety of the country that its a good idea!
I'm open to peoples views on this matter!

I'm loving the way you've lumped employers into a category with criminals. Issues with your boss, DP?
That's like saying that the only people who oppose strict gun laws are people who want to own guns for nefarious purposes. Don't know about the DNA thing, but when we were looking at a nation wide ID card here,there was quite a bit of opposition, even though there was no information on it that the government didn't already have in one form or another...it was just collated. Makes it easier than carting around half a dozen plastic cards everywhere you go.
As far as safer for the country goes, restricting the law abiding doesn't automatically have the flow on of making the criminals behave themselves.

[darkpenguin]

i wish lol ive been looking for a job since february, i just can't see why they were objected, they make sense to me, it would save space and would be easier. I can't understand why anyone would object to them unless they have something to hide, in an ideal world i'd go as far as having everyone fitted with a tag or a chip so their wareabouts are know at all times but hey thats just me lol! another thing that niggles me with this country is immigration laws, we seem to let everybody in which is really annoying, i'm not racist i just feel like were giving too many people a free ride and it's not right!

[retrorich]

I think mandatory ID cards and DNA sampling are excellent ideas to help combat terrorism and crime.

[michel]

Originally Posted by darkpenguin

just wondering what peoples views are on compulsory ID cards and dna sampling in the uk.
Personaly i think it's a good idea and the only people who would opose such a thing are people with things to hide, such as illegal immigrants and employers and criminals! I think for the safety of the country that its a good idea!
I'm open to peoples views on this matter!

I am all for it; I agree completely with your point about the motive of those who would object to it (except for the minority who have nothing to fear, but enjoy 'bashing' any - as they would see it - civil liberties)

[kai]

i do not object in principle but right now in my wallet i have a driving licence (with photo) inland revenue construction industry card with photo, so i have two government issued id cards with photos already and i think they want us to pay for the new ones as well

[MidnightBlue]

Originally Posted by darkpenguin

just wondering what peoples views are on compulsory ID cards and dna sampling in the uk.
Personaly i think it's a good idea and the only people who would opose such a thing are people with things to hide, such as illegal immigrants and employers and criminals! I think for the safety of the country that its a good idea!
I'm open to peoples views on this matter!

I'm absolutely opposed to compulsory ID cards and DNA sampling, and also to the installation of "security" cameras in every public place for monitoring the population.

I don't believe it's a good bargain to trade our freedom and privacy for an illusion of security, and I don't believe it's very wise to place too much trust in the beneficence of the government and government officials. We've seen all too much abuse of power and information by governments in my lifetime. The idea that nobody would object to the extension of government snooping and supervision except people who are up to no good is an insidious one. Isn't it possible that people may value freedom and privacy without some sinister motive? Do we really want to impute guilt to anybody who prefers living as a free adult to surrending his life and his fate to an ever-watchful Big Brother?

[Feathers in Hair]

It's very easy to believe that it's a good idea and that the only people who would oppose such a thing would be somone with something to hide, but- as MB noted- you would have to be able to trust those watching to not put it to nefarious uses.

Just because I don't have anything to hide doesn't mean I feel safe entrusting that information to others.

[ayani]

but on the other hand, security cameras have been useful in IDing muggers, robbers, missing persons and the like in stores and public places.

i don't have an issue with it. but as Feathers said, such data could easily be mis-used. and just because we have ID cards and DNA smaples doesn't mean that unaffiliated people won't continue to be detained, arrested, profiled, etc.