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Joined: 05 Nov 2003
Posts: 814
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Posted: Tue May 31, 2005 11:25 am Post Subject: I can hear the rumblings for a NZ National biometric ID Card
I heard Linda Clark on National Radio this morning talking to a guy called Shane Pritchard, originally from Mosgiel. I think he may also have appeared on Fair Go awhile back as well. He has had a 8 year history of constantly being mistaken for another Shane Pritchard (heavily tattooed, born in the same year and month but 23 days apart, in and out of prison and living in the Henderson, Auckland area).
The trouble started when he had his dole payments cut off, because of something that was happening with the other guy. Later, the other Shane managed to clean out Mosgiel Shane's bank accounts of more than $10,000 (by telling the bank he had lost his pass book and them giving him the other guy's details etc). At some point in this, the 'imposter' found out about the coincidence and began using Mosgiel Shane's details when stopped by police, or incurring traffic fines etc.
The case of mistaken identity has continued to cause the guy much strife, seemingly without much success in terms of getting the police on his side in helping to sort the problem out.
I've seen a fair bit on overseas news sites about the problem of identity theft. I have always felt that the problem is being hyped and 'used' to gather justification for the introduction of biometric ID cards. In discussions about the issue you'll see people using the term 'your papers please' nowadays - a hark back to darker days in the Second World War, where anyone caught without the proper documents was in serious trouble.
Apparently the suggestion of changing his name doesn't appeal. And the police even agreed that if added another middle name or something, the imposter could simply copy that and everyone would be back to square one.
Throughout the interview, particularly as time went on and as it seemed that no one could really offer any definitive help, I could hear the unspoken, overhwhelming conclusion making its presence felt:
Perhaps if we had a national ID card system, which includes biometric info like fingerprinting etc and if you had to show this whenever you are stopped by police, or go to take out a hire purchase or whatever, this sort of thing would never happen again.
Nobody said it, but I couldn't help thinking that the very fact it wasn't offered up as even some sort of hypothetical answer to the guy's problem, was intended to encourage listeners to make that connection for themselves - the implication was deafening.
I would not be surprised to see the suggestion made in the not too distant future - in direct response to this case. Watch the news...
Joined: 05 Nov 2003
Posts: 814
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Posted: Tue May 31, 2005 2:19 pm Post Subject:
A followup - this article in the Guardian on British ID cards (May 29th 2005):
Quote:
The government's faith in ID cards to solve all manner of social ills continues to grow. They have been sold to us over the last three years as, variously, protection against illegal immigration, benefit fraud and terrorism. Last week, the Prime Minister added identity theft - the hijacking of private data for criminal ends.
The government's contention is that huge savings would be made and national security enhanced if we would only agree to carry microchips that, when checked against a national database, prove our identity.
The surrender of privacy and the cost required by such a scheme might just about be worth the supposed benefits if two conditions are met: we must have confidence in the state to use our data wisely, and we must have faith in the state to make the system work. We have neither.
The current bill contains broadly the same scheme offered to parliament last year. ID cards will not at first be compulsory, nor will it be illegal to leave them at home. The cost of the card (around £100 for every adult, according to the government, substantially more according to estimates reported in The Observer ) will be met by the individual. But if the government expects the cards to form a watertight security seal, it is hard to see how it will not become obligatory to own and carry them much sooner than the proposed 2013 date.
Besides, the government's motives have been obscured by the ad hoc way in which claimed advantages pile up. Our trust in the state to handle our data safely is undermined by this shifting account of the purpose of ID cards. What will happen, for example, when private companies with contracts to run public services want access to the database? Or when foreign governments do so?
Any professional who works with new technology knows that it rarely works as advertised. Only those who have little experience of it - civil servants, cabinet ministers - believe it can perform miracles. A hoard of private data on the scale proposed is not only a bulwark against fraudsters and terrorists, it is also target for them. The government must find more trustworthy ways to protect the people it serves.
Joined: 22 Feb 2004
Posts: 140
Location: Auckland, NZ
Posted: Tue May 31, 2005 3:59 pm Post Subject:
Hi Mel and all,
Our biometric ID cards will be arriving in July or August this year according to The Department of Internal Affairs.
In order for NZ citizens to retain our visa-free status for travel to the US, the government agreed to include biometric data in all new New Zealand passports. The validity of a passort has been halved to five years too, so we'll all be getting them sooner rather than later.
This information will be stored on a microchip laminated into the new passport booklets.
Quote:
Internal Affairs is poised to begin issuing hi-tech biometric passports, after awarding a $1-$2 million contract to Hewlett-Packard to supply the underlying technology.
What is REALLY scary here is the form of biometric data they are including. Not a fingerprint or retina scan, which you would normally have some (limited) choice in handing over to an "official"
No, they include our facial co-ordinates. These details are said to be as good or better than fingerprints at identifying an individual.
So once entered into the system, cameras can identify us at border control, speeding our journey and reducing delays. We'll even be able to process ourselves through immigration at the airport. Very convenient... where do I sign up??
What they don't mention is what happens when the feature creep we talked about in another post starts!
Once our facial cordinates are in Big Brother's computer, we can be identified any place, any time - without our express permission and even without our knowledge. Our movements can be tracked at all times. With this, privacy is a thing of the past!
Facial recognition cameras have monitored every vehicle passing into and out of London for years, as part of the security measures against the IRA.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security use facial recognition at sports stadiums and public gatherings to locate 'terrorists', or as Winston calls them, 'undesirables'.
Wait till the copper at the compulsory drink-drive check-point pokes a scanner in the window (a face scanner, not a breath scanner) to save you the inconvenience of handing over your drivers licence. I bet someone somewhere is thinking about it.
The data 'they' want to keep on us doesn't need to be stored on an ID card. They only need to be able to uniquely match the individual to the record on the computer. And your face will do that nicely, thank you.
Joe Public might not like the idea of carrying an identity card, but he's not going to leave his face at home!
We each already carry our biometric ID with us everywhere we go; Our face!
Joined: 05 Nov 2003
Posts: 814
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2005 6:58 pm Post Subject: Media plays along with hyping up the problem of ID fraud
Surprise, surprise. We hear on the news tonight that police have set up a special unit to tackle "the soaring problem of identity fraud". As predicted we are now hearing more and more about how much of a problem this form of criminial activity is proving to be.
And they sure are milking the Shane Pritchard case...
Joined: 22 Feb 2004
Posts: 140
Location: Auckland, NZ
Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 5:20 pm Post Subject: More on the new style NZ passports:
More on the new style NZ passports:
This link is to a streaming sound file of a recent broadcast on National Radio.
The recording also features an interview about Chigaco's new public surveillence system... Big Brother on speed!!!
Quote:
When you click on the link, your media player will automatically open and begin playing the recording. You'll want to skip through using the controls to 8 minutes & 45 seconds into the recording.
These files are copyright Radio New Zealand and are from Simon Morton's Show, Digital Life broadcast on Saturday 21 May 2005. http://www.radionz.co.nz/digitallife/
