Because it'll cost hundreds of millions and won't do half the things the government claim it can.

Here it is a legal requirement to carry your Ausweis (Identity card) with you at all times. If you do not have them on you, it if a €50 fine and you stay in the custody of the police until somebody comes with your ID card, or if you live alone, they will escort you back home.

As to swimming, you take it in your bag with you, when you go swimming... If you are actually in the water, then you need to have it on you!

It is also useful when going to the bank or purchasing services, mobile 'phones or getting credit in a shop. No driving licence + 2 utility bills, just produce you ID card and the job is done.

The problem with a passport is, it doesn't say where you live and a driving licence misses on other information. The ID cards are also all that is required to travel between different countries in the European Union. My girlfriend has never been outside of Germany, until we came to England in Feb, she just needed to show her ID card, not wait 6 weeks and pay a fortune for a passport.

What happens if I pick your pocket and steal it from you? You don't have it, you get fined and you stay in custody for ever until I generously give it back?

Hmm, I can't say I'm in favour. I don't have anything to hide, but I'm feeling very much as though the government and their "organisations" (read: contractors") have quite enough information about me and my whereabouts, I want to be able to live my life, where I want and when I want without having to answer to anyone if I don't choose to.

I agree that it's a bit of a gyp to introduce these cards as compulsory, then expect me to do all the work, pay for it and risk getting fined (or worse) if I don't. It seems like we've hit some slippery slope of "Police State" approach, security cameras everywhere, facial recognition software, there are massive databases filled with all sorts of information about all sorts of people. We already know how secure they're not and I'm not happy having even more of my personal information recorded and turned into a compulsory stick which can then be used to beat me.

If it was going to replace passports & driving licences then perhaps I'd be less jittery about it, but in all honesty, being tracked constantly all over the world whether I want to be or not just isn't on my list of "wants" at the moment. I don't even like the thought of the NHS database, although I can at least see the point of that.

With all today’s problems then it could be one answer and a big helping hand to the organizations paid to protect the good citizens of the UK. So with this in mind I'm all for it, I have nothing to hide but a lot of people do hence the resentment.

I don't know of anybody who has been pickpocketed, so I don't know. But I would guess you go to the Bürgersamt and request a new one and you'll get a receipt or temporary card until the new one is ready.

But you are required to have a passport or a driving licence. If you don't drive and don't travel, how do you identify yourself, when requested for proof of identity?

The British forced the id card on Germans after the war, why shouldn't be force it on ourselves as well?

I'm against them.

They won't do half the things the govt said it will (fraud, terrorism...). The database behind it is just plain scary. Given this govt's record with IT projects and data security, do you really want them to have all that info in one place. Chances are they will sell it on to businesses.

What happens if someone inputs your details incorrectly? I can imagine someone saying to you "Well our records say this...."

I would be more for them if it was just an ID card with your details. Without the NIR database.

As PM in waiting I'm generally in favour of some form of identity card scheme.

However, I'm definitely not in favour of the half-assed way the proposed scheme is being done. What's the point in a voluntary ID card that you don't even need to carry about with you?

I haven't had to carry or produce an ID document (apart from leaving the country, or being involved in a traffic stop / RTA) ever. Why start now. I should have the right to move about MY country as I see fit. Once they introduce these, it's just another excuse for the people at the top to control the rest of us and know our movements.

They can [LIFTED] off frankly.

Exactly.

It's costing too much to implement, and requires the individual to pay for it. It's wrong on so many levels it's hard to understand how it was approved by our legislators - oh, wait a minute, I think I know the answer that one...

I really don’t see the point of it. There are plenty of ways to identify yourself already - if you don’t have a driving license or a passport, you can use utility bills, bank statements, which is what mobile phone companies ask to see.

The Government has gone through a number of reasons to justify ID cards, all culled from newspaper headlines:
• Counter terrorism - as we have seen, terrorists tend not to go around identifying themselves as such, and given the attacks on UK soil, an ID card would not have flagged the perpetrators as anything but ordinary.

• Immigration - how a card can control this, without there being mass stop & produce exercises by the police is anyone’s guess. We already know how popular this is, with the Met Police being criticised for over using terrorism laws already to stop and question anyone they don’t like the look of.

The thing that concerns me most is function creep. The current government says the card will operate in a certain way. However, a successive government will no doubt decide that it would be a good idea to add more information to the card & supporting database. What information will they add? We don’t know, but the following information may be of use to counter future threats:

• Political alignment
• Sexual orientation
• Religious beliefs
• Skin colour (which could be added to the biometric portion of the data, AND this will be evident from the photo so it’s there in some form - why not just make a proper datum of it too)

Once you have this information, you may very well have a better picture of the card holder, AND be able to run predictive software to determine if someone meeting certain targets could be a potential threat - they could be monitored more closely or further action taken.

Let’s also consider other database gathering exercises, and how they fit in.

Firstly, there has been talk of using GPS to control the speed of your car. A GPS device can record where you are and will be able to log it. This opens the door to road pricing - a GPS device will log your car’s position, and you will get a bill for your journey. The bill is an artefact of your journey. This artefact can be added to, or linked to, your ID data. Now information of political affiliation and your car journey could paint a picture of your actions - a picture which could be inaccurate, but you may find yourself having to explain them, and potentially talk yourself out of a miscalculation by the system’s analytical algorithms.

And before you say “I’ll use public transport,” consider the Oyster Card, and watch those grow to other transport companies. Soon we will be “touching in” and out of all forms of public transport. It’s a nice little way to tagging people without them realising it, and will become the preferred method of payment by the transport companies. Oyster offers discounts over the cash prices.

We also have the NHS database. Again, a separate pile of data, but I can imagine that they will be linked to the ID database eventually. All of a sudden, your ID becomes a medically rich pool of data. Add your compulsory DNA scan, and you get a far, far richer picture of who you are. Suddenly, that mild form of depression you went to the doctor about gets joined up to your political and religious persuasions, and •bingo• you get a visit at 3am from the boys in blue. Just in case.

The above is a bit scary if you ask me. All this data being gathered, including your internet/phone/VOIP activity creates a vast picture of you. You could be investigated from the comfort and safety of an office in Cheltenham, and initial deductions made about you made. The whole thing ceases the presumption of innocent until proven guilty. This makes us all suspects.

I do not think that ID cards will be a good thing to have. In fact, all this data gathering should be concerning us greatly. Even if you are are in the “nothing to hide, nothing to fear” camp, you have to remember that one day the rules will shift, and they will not shift in your favour.

This is a problem though. When I started university, I had just passed my driving test, and was without my ID for close to two months while I was upgraded from a learner to a qualified driver, I didn't have a passport as I've never been abroad, I didn't have a mobile contract, any bills, etc. I went to open a new back account and was refused because I didn't have appropriate ID or documents...
Mum is the same, her passport is 20 years old and probably thrown away, she doesn't drive, she has no method of proving her identity, all the bills are solely in my Dad's name, so I suppose she could try persuade that she lived with my Dad (they are still together, but how does she prove that?).

ID cards, on the face of it, are a very good thing, if they are just that: A way to prove your identity.
Identity can always be faked, surely a passport/driving license is just a picture of you? Which could be replaced with a picture of someone else?
And surely DNA or a retina scan is harder/impossible to fake?

National Insurance number. We all have one. It should be enough.

But people don't take it for ID...In fact, it says on the bottom of the card "THIS IS NOT PROOF OF IDENTITY"
Many places want photographic ID too.