Over at the IdealGovernment blog, William Heath has kicked off an intriguing discussion following the publication of an allegedly leaked UK government policy document on ID Cards. I say "allegedly" because the published version contains no departmental logos, headers or other authenticating indicators... Of course, if we all had ID Cards, we'd be able to check that the document was genuine. Ahem.
However, if the document is genuine and reasonably current, the picture it gives of policy formulation is not a particularly edifying one. Specifically, it depicts an ID Card scheme based on unabashedly authoritarian premises, with scant regard for the privacy or benefit of the citizen. It also fails to reflect much of the good advice to which UK policymakers have been exposed over the last year or two, particularly concerning privacy, anonymity and attribute-level assertions.
But is it all a cunning spoof? I have no inside knowledge... you will just have to judge for yourself. The worrying thing from the policymakers' point of view must surely be that, if it is a spoof, it is one which is so readily believable.
Se non è vero, è ben trovato.
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