Jill Kirby: Who do they think we are?

Government's hidden agenda to control our lives

CENTRE FOR POLICY STUDIES

57 Tufton Street, London SW1P 3QL

January 25, 2008

The proposed introduction of ID cards for British citizens in 2011 represents only the tip of an iceberg of personal information which the Government is collecting.

The government's strategy for the 'transformation' and 'personalisation' of public services is based on sharing personal information across government departments and government agencies, to provide the state with a 'joined-up' picture of every individual.

The ultimate goal is for cross-government collaboration to 'manage' the needs of every citizen, yet for the citizen to be unaware of this collaboration. ...

If 'Transformational Government' succeeds, the question of whether ID cards are compulsory or voluntary becomes irrelevant. The Government will already have the ability to cross-reference our personal data, to share that data and to decide on our entitlement to services.