Issues of ID

One of the people I work for is extremely rich. She regularly has her identity stolen, and has to constantly create new bank accounts, payment methods and contact details in order to stay one step ahead of the fraudsters. In veiw of the fact that Britain is about to pass legislation to pave the way for identity cards, this would only seem to aid the fraudsters. I know we are a rare breed in the world, a nation that doesn't have identity cards, [possibly the only one of all the developed countries], so I can't help but feel, even though we have more CCTV than anyone else, our essential freedom of identity is more protected. The fact that there ISN'T a central coordinator of all passport/drivers license/medical records etc etc ultimately protects the individual from malicious use of identity information better than any system ever could.
Considering that we are about to enter the brave new world of computer pay per click/view/download, any other protection of the rights of the individual should be preserved in stone. Soon, I can imagine you won't be able to use a supermarket without an identity check, in case you are an illegal immigrant or wanted by the cops. That would be simple to implement though, if everyone had to have their 'papers' in order. And there was me thinking that only happened in war-torn Germany.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/11/23/news/blair.html

http://snipurl.com/b2qv