Government digital ID

[Suff]

Give me a photo ID card and I'll be perfectly happy

Until you lose it.

Photo ID cards are government identifying documents. Not like a driving license where they just bill you for a replacement and it's done. You lose a government ID card and they start getting arsey. Really obnoxious. Then consider, you lose the damned thing and it takes 3 weeks to get another one, but all the stuff you do is tied to that card. I've seen this twice, once in Switzerland where a colleagues wallet was stolen, he said it was a NIGHTMARE as he went through the process of identifying himself and getting his new ID card, which he needed to get his driving license and any other of a whole range of things.

The other time was in Brussels where my colleague lost access to his bank accounts and his public services, all secured by that wonderful certificate locked away in his ID card.

When you have a government issued ID card things just naturally gravitate to this "guaranteed" form of ID. Then, when you lose it, the government kicks into asshole mode and makes your life a real misery for weeks until it is replaced.

You think they won't charge you if the card is stolen? You think it won't need to be updated every decade to get the picture refreshed? Just like the driving license? You think they won't eventually start charging for this?

When I had an ID card in the Army it was an automatic chargeable offence to lose it.

Once ID becomes mandatory, that is when you find out just how much of a pain living with this "Thing" becomes. But once it is mandatory it is several hundred years too late to say "Nooooooooo I don't want it"!

[Workingman]

OK we get it, you do not like ID cards.

But get this: we are not in Switzerland; France; North Korea or Vanuatu.

We have left the EU. We are a sovereign country with blue passports and make our own rules; we can operate ID cards any way we like. If our government says we will have ID cards then we will have them. Most of us won't bat an eyelid.

[Suff]

We can, certainly, operate ID cards any way we like.

Now. Serious question. Do you TRUST them to operate them the way you would like?

Because once it is done it is done. And I'm not talking about just this bunch of Yahoo's. I'm talking about Every bunch of Yahoo's voted in for the rest of our lives.

Me, I prefer not to go there. Then I don't have to TRUST them at all.

[miasmum]

Why would I lose it? I’ve never lost any other card so why would I suddenly lose that?

If you can come up with another solution for my photo ID problem, that is free, I’m happy to listen?

[Suff]

Nothing in life is free and neither will an ID card be in the long run. I'm not talking money here, I'm talking other costs.

Honestly your best photo id solution is to get your driving license changed. Yes you have to update the photo every 10 years but you can also share that photo with your passport and vice versa, which has saved me a lot of pain over the years.

It is available, here and now and does most of the job. OK it costs £20 and you will need to do it by post as your passport is no longer valid. But once done it gives you you a valid photo ID with address. It is £14 per decade to renew or £1.40 a year. I didn't think this was onerous.

I just looked up the requirements for a Fench ID card. You must renew it Every 10 years of your life and if you have the plastic secured card you have to send the following.

Completely filled in and signed application form.
Your old identity card: the original and a photocopy
Two identical photos that comply with the standards.
Proof of address : the original and a photocopy

Every 10 years! No deciding that you can't be bothered, like a driving license, it's mandatory.

Even better, every time you change address in France you have to renew your ID card because the ID card is both proof of Identity AND address.

You really want to be careful what you wish for. Yes sometimes proving identity can be a real faff, but that is Each time you do something new or different. Once you have an ID card, it is a faff for the rest of your life unless you give up your citizenship. Given that once ID cards are issued, they will be mandatory.

Also once you have an ID card which is proof of both identity and address, it means you won't be able to rent without one, it will probably be required to check into hotels (this is common all over Europe), plus do a whole host of other things. Today, in the UK, you can quietly live your life with minimal interaction with the government. Once an ID card is introduced that is Gone. Forever.

For what? £1.40 a year?

Doesn't work for me.

[Workingman]

Once more... we are NOT in France.

Not everybody has a driving licence. Not everybody has a passport. Not everybody needs them. Everybody can have a simple photo ID card.

Also once you have an ID card which is proof of both identity and address, it means you won't be able to rent without one...

As opposed to now where you need proof and if you do not have a driving licence or passport, utility bills or some other official document it can be nigh on impossible. I rent, I have the T shirt.

... it will probably be required to check into hotels (this is common all over Europe).

Oh goodness that is such a chore. When I have travelled abroad I have often been asked for my passport at check in.

Weak excuses against a simple photo ID card with name, address, postcode, D.O.B. signature and maybe NI number.

[Suff]

An ID card isn't just for Christmas...

Just to expand on that. In the Army we used to talk about the difference between a contribution and a commitment.

Ham and Eggs.

There yet? The Chicken makes a contribution. The Pig makes a commitment.

Now apply this to a driving license as opposed to mandatory Government ID.

The Driving license is a contribution.