Shock! Horror! I’m in favour of ID cards…sorta.

Ok, so I’m not in favour of enforced ID cards, especially with this idea of huge banks of information and biometric data being badly encrypted onto them etc.  Although it must be said that the only things I was particularly against about ID were having to have one even if you had a Driver’s Licence, Passport, Forces ID, or Police Warrant Card, having to carry them by law, and them costing £35.  For a family on benefits of around £150 a week, 4 or 5 time £35 is a significant amount of food/school supplies/transport but I digress.

The thing that has caught me (again) at the moment, is needing ID for various things to do with having moved house.  I have no passport, and obviously it would take a long time to get one (I’ve started the process, fear not, but it will take some time to  say the least).  I’m medically not allowed to drive, so the Provisional Driver’s Licence I have cannot even be updated to have a correct address on it.  I’m not an employee of a government agency or anything like that, and so I’m entirely devoid of ID that most places will take.  I have an out of date Driver’s Licence and a Student Card with 1 month left to live, and no one takes it anyway.

In my circumstances, an official government-issued ID card would be useful, not to carry everywhere, and not to be forced to present to a police officer or anything, but to take to the bank when I need to, and to the doctors when I need.  A card with similar security to a driver’s licence and my photo, address and date of birth for about £25 would be ideal (that’s what my drivers learner thing cost, roughly, in 1998).

Anyone else think this could be useful for people who can’t drive for whatever reason?

Related posts:

1. The ID vicious circle