UK ID card bill about to be passed in House of Commons

Concerning the aforementioned UK Identity Card Bill, Spy Blog reports that it has finished its House of Commons Committee stage, with virtually no amendments, and it looks as if the Report and Third Reading are provisionally set to be on Thursday 10th February 2005 -- i.e. next week.

Thanks to new “Freedom of Information” legislation that was introduced in the UK, it is now possible to learn more about the goings-on of the bureaucratic-legislative machinery. A request has made clear that there is heavy involvement of consulting firms (who charge an enormous amount of money for their services) in the ID card process, and more than 60 meetings with the business side of ID cards have taken place so far. Interestingly, there is up to now no indication that any meetings have taken place with people or groups who are worried about the privacy and security of the proposed scheme, or who are opposed in principle to some or all aspects of it.