And so it begins...

After a long time, the long awaited [by the government] roll-out of the identity cards begins in Greater Manchester [UK] and anyone foolish enough to sign up for one can pay £30 for the privilege of owning a biometric ID card.

But this is only the start...once you are on the database it is your responsibility to make sure that your details are up-to-date, in fact you are obliged to maintain the accuracy of the information. This means that you will have to pay to do this for the rest of your life and, if you don't you will pay - in fines or more.

In reality though, it probably will not matter much in the end, it is only the current Labour government that is pushing for the full introduction of the ID cards. If elected at the next election - probably early to mid 2010 - neither of the other main political groups would go ahead with the scheme; in fact, even the 'minor' groups have no intention of imposing the ID card in any way.

The only reason I have for posting this is because I have mentioned the idea before and I just wanted to update the information [am I getting the ID card disease here?].

The whole thing is a complete waste of time and money, estimated to be in the region of £20bn by the London School of Economics, and it will not improve security or prevent identity theft or fraud.

I didn't want to post yet another rant but I feel that this is important.