News on ID Cards, ID Badges and Photo ID Systems: 05/15/2005

ID cards in Britain

1:08 AM

It seems that the Home Office will persevere with its plans to introduce identity cards for the UK population despite the recent reduction in its majority.The argument is that since the measure was in the Labour manifesto, backbench Labour MPs are obliged to support it. This removes the potential for an embarrassing defeat in the House of Commons and also means that the Lords cannot block it.It?s a shame that Charles Clarke didn?t use the election period to reflect on the many well-argued criticisms of the plans he inherited from David Blunkett. He had the perfect opportunity to rethink the scheme and fix some of the major flaws, but has declined to take it.

Full Article from p2pnet.net.

Friday, May 20, 2005

SurREAL ID: New drivers? licenses may mean loss of privacy

4:03 AM

Critics say a new federal measure to standardize the nation?s drivers? licenses could be a precursor to a national ID system linked to a giant database of personal information. But according to one influential Republican congressman, the structure already exists and is in full use today by every state and the District of Columbia..Robert Dreyfuss, contributing editor to The Nation and Mother Jones, calls it ?a step toward a chilling, privacy-violating national ID card system that could one day have Americans being asked, Nazi-style, to ?show us your papers? wherever they go.?

Full Article from vermontguardian.com.

Thursday, May 19, 2005

District's school buses to get GPS

4:04 AM

If a student gets off at the wrong bus stop or if a school bus gets into accident, parents will soon be able to know about it promptly.Beginning next year, all 300 school buses in Sarasota County will have Global Positioning System devices.The county also plans to equip its 19,000 students with ID badges that contain computer chips, read as students get on and off the bus.The $1 million system, approved by the Sarasota County School Board on Tuesday, will allow school dispatchers to track every bus and passenger in real-time from computer screens."Parents can call, and with a click of a button, we'll be able to tell them where their child is or where the bus is," said Ellery Girard, executive director of school bus services for Sarasota County Public Schools.

Full Article from heraldtribune.com.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Board opts to close high school campus

4:05 AM

All students in all grade levels will remain on campus for the entirety of the school day next year, bringing an end to the traditional open lunch period. The only students allowed to leave campus will be seniors involved with dual enrollment at Central Arizona College or employed through the CHS co-op program.Those seniors will be designated by a special badge that will get them by security and allow them to leave campus; this "badge" will be a photo identification card. CHS Principal Tim Hamilton said he would handle the production and distribution of the badges himself.

Full Article from zwire.com.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

What the nation needs is a real national ID card

4:06 AM

"May I see some identification, please?" asked a retail clerk taking my check. "Certainly," I said, and handed the woman my Hong Kong identity card. She looked at it blankly for a moment then said, "Can I see some other kind of identification?"Sometimes when I'm feeling cranky or mischievous, I hand over my Hong Kong ID card when I need to produce some kind of identification.Why not? It's a perfectly valid document. It has my photograph on it. I know of no law that specifies that my Washington state driver's license has become a national ID card. At least not yet.The US is groping toward a national ID-card system, compelled both by worries about security in an age of terrorism and the need to control immigration. But Congress is going about it in the wrong way by trying to elevate state driver's licenses to some kind of national identity card.

Full Article from nwsource.com.

Monday, May 16, 2005

ID cards bill rises from the ashes

4:07 AM

Tony Blair will reintroduce the national ID cards bill in the Queen's Speech on Tuesday but a senior government official has admitted that concessions will have to be made to ensure its passage through parliament.The bill was dropped before the General Election after the government ran out of legislative time to push it through the House of Lords. Then Blair's massively reduced majority in the House of Commons raised questions over whether renewed opposition from rebel Labour MPs and the other political parties would kill the ID cards plan altogether.But the first hint of concessions to appease opponents came in an interview with Northern Ireland secretary Peter Hain at the weekend.

Full Article from zdnet.co.uk.

Sunday, May 15, 2005

State offer of new identification cards for licensed professionals gets tepid reaction

4:08 AM

The state is planning to offer photo identification cards to the more than 670,000 New Yorkers in professions licensed by the state Education Department.The cards stem from the New York state Department of Health's offer starting last year to provide physicians with free photo IDs. To date, 27,000 doctors have received the cards. That initiative, funded by federal homeland security dollars, is designed to allow doctors to swing into action more quickly at the scene of another Sept. 11-type catastrophe.Having special photo IDs might appeal to the hundreds of thousands of non-medical professionals licensed by the state, according to a proposed regulation put forward by the Education Department. The cards could be a quick and easy way for professionals to identify themselves to clients and prospective employers, the department said.

Full Article from msn.com.

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