posted on Jun, 4 2003 @ 05:35 AM
The problem is, the more difficult it becomes to fake the ID (iris scans etc.) the more lucrative this type of faking becomes. So you can guarantee
that whatever ID scheme we put in place, it will be hacked, and the more we spend on the ID system the more trouble someone who hacks the system will
be able to create.
Will you be happy if someone gets into the core database and swaps your iris scan with theirs? What happens when you get arrested for having been in a
certain place at the time of a murder when you know you were actually 400 miles away?
This isn't just a scare story, hacking computer systems happens all the time. The iris database is going to be accessed 10's of millions of times a
year, which means there are going to be thousands of people who have access to your scan. Do you trust every one of them?
For an equivalent example, consider how much care and attention goes into banking databases. This is where billions of pounds are going through a
computer system. And still, we've had people hack these systems for their own personal gain (such as the guy who rounded all 0.5 pences down to 0.0
and stuck the extra in an account registered to his own name), and hundreds of smaller examples of id theft etc..
ID cards aren't going to help you at all. They'll just make it easier for the government to track you and me, people who aren't criminals but are
being treated as such.