Foreigners living in Britain face compulsory biometric ID cards (Guardian)

[Bozita]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/idcards/story/0,,1975588,00.html

Foreigners living in Britain face compulsory biometric ID cards


· Photo and fingerprint scheme for 700,000
· Visitors to be screened before flying to UK

Alan Travis, home affairs editor
Wednesday December 20, 2006
The Guardian

Compulsory powers to fingerprint and photograph 700,000 foreigners a year who live in Britain as part of the national identity card scheme were announced yesterday by the home secretary, John Reid, as the scope of what critics see as a future Big Brother state became clearer.

At the same time, 150 screening centres around the world are to be set up in 18 months so that biometric data - electronic fingerprints and photos - can be taken and stored from passengers coming to Britain from 169 countries outside Europe.

But Mr Reid had to confirm that the Home Office's original plans for one huge new "clean" database to store the details of everyone resident in Britain have had to be scaled back on the grounds of expense as the government tries to cut the estimated £5.4bn cost of introducing ID cards. The controversial national identity register, which will store everyone's biometric fingerprints and photographs as well as personal biographical details, will now be housed on three separate existing government computer systems.

Mr Reid denied yesterday that this was a U-turn, although the computer industry has widely seen the decision as a significant change of tack: "Doing something sensible is not necessarily a U-turn," said Mr Reid. "We have decided it is lower-risk, more efficient and faster to take the infrastructure that already exists, although the data will be drawn from other sources."

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[lovuian]

1. It just gets closer and closer to Police State

So sad

[The2ndWheel]

2. Well it is called the Information Age

People didn't come up with that because it sounds cool.

[Benhurst]

3. I'm glad I saw it before it became a police state. NT

[LiberalFighter]

4. Will they store the data permanently or will it be destroyed

after they leave the country?

If this includes tourists how will that affect vacationers? Will they want to travel to their country?

On the subject of biometrics. Will that include printing of the eye? If so, can the eye biometric be misleading if one wears contacts?