WHAT WE STAND FOR

NO2ID is a campaigning organisation. We are a single-issue group focussed on the threat to liberty and privacy posed by the rapid growth of the database state, of which "ID cards" are the most visible part. We are entirely independent. We do not endorse any party, nor campaign on any other topic.

We aim to publicise the case against state identity management among the general public, in the media, and at every level in government. NO2ID's members are from all sorts of backgrounds and hold all sorts of opinions on other questions. They almost certainly include people much like you. Please support us.

NO2ID comment:

THREE STRIKES - and ID should be out

With the publication of the Home Affairs Select Committee report: "A Surveillance Society?" the ID scheme gets its third official black mark in four months. The committee of MPs of all parties demanded that:

"The Government should give an explicit undertaking to adhere to a principle of data minimisation and should resist a tendency to collect more personal information and establish larger databases. Any decision to create a major new database, to share information on databases, or to implement proposals for increased surveillance, should be based on a proven need."

This is NO2ID's view too. We're glad they agree. However, it is totally incompatible with the conception of a National Identity Register that would store and control all essential facts about everyone for life, in order to support broader data-sharing across government. James Hall, the head of the Identity and Passport Service wrote last year:

[Joined-up government] will demand increased inter-departmental co-operation and will, by its nature, involve sharing more data about an individual between public sector organisations. The national identity scheme is being designed to meet that public expectation of improved services and joined-up government.

That is data maximisation.

Last month the committee of technology experts appointed by the Government complained [ISAP Report, 156kb PDF] that the scheme lacks "robust and transparent operational data governance regime and clear data architecture".

In other words, it is an insecure muddle.

And back in March, Sir James Crosby, commissioned by Gordon Brown when he was Chancellor to look into "identity assurance", laid out ten clear principles for the design of a universal identity system. The Home Office was already breaking every one, but had the gall to claim Crosby's report justified its scheme.

It's official: wrong in principle, shoddily built, and a threat to privacy. The ID card project must be stopped.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT 'ID CARDS'

There's a lot of confusion about the government's proposed national identity scheme, and it doesn't help that the Home Office often gives misleading information.

Our summary of the scheme is here.

Answers to selected Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are here.

The 'database state' is what we call the tendency to try to use computers to manage society by watching people. There are many interlocking government plans that do this. Together they mean officials poking into your private life more than ever before.

The list of database state initiatives on which NO2ID is campaigning, along with a wide range of other organisations is here.

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