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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Optional National ID cards - would you get one if they came back?

103 replies

Libertyy · 22/12/2023 11:33

If this was another alternative to the current system we have and you could choose which organisations you would be okay with sharing your information automatically with (and those you didn’t would ask you for ID in line with the current system), would you get one? I hold a national id card for a developing country and I personally don’t mind them - I find my life would be a lot easier just showing an ID card. Would you prefer this system?

OP posts:
glittercunt · 22/12/2023 11:34

In some ways it sounds useful, but I don't trust this government not to have several accidental GDPR breaches.

megletthesecond · 22/12/2023 11:36

No. But I always carry my driving licence photos card anyway.

Original poster
Libertyy · 22/12/2023 11:37

glittercunt · 22/12/2023 11:34

In some ways it sounds useful, but I don't trust this government not to have several accidental GDPR breaches.

Let’s say the HMPO/Home office deal with it in the way they do with the information we send off with our passports, would you trust it?

OP posts:
PurpleSparkledPixie · 22/12/2023 11:38

You could choose which organisations you would be okay with sharing your information automatically
No thank you.

However I would like a nationally recognised ID card that acts in the same way as showing your driving licence or passport. Some people cannot have either and needing photo ID is starting to become the norm, even for picking up a parcel.

TigerRag · 22/12/2023 11:41

PurpleSparkledPixie · 22/12/2023 11:38

You could choose which organisations you would be okay with sharing your information automatically
No thank you.

However I would like a nationally recognised ID card that acts in the same way as showing your driving licence or passport. Some people cannot have either and needing photo ID is starting to become the norm, even for picking up a parcel.

Agreed. I have a passport and I'd rather not have to carry that around as ID.

Greenparrott · 22/12/2023 11:42

If I didn’t have a driving license then yes I would be happy to get one.

Original poster
Libertyy · 22/12/2023 11:42

PurpleSparkledPixie · 22/12/2023 11:38

You could choose which organisations you would be okay with sharing your information automatically
No thank you.

However I would like a nationally recognised ID card that acts in the same way as showing your driving licence or passport. Some people cannot have either and needing photo ID is starting to become the norm, even for picking up a parcel.

This is what I’m saying though, a nationally recognised ID that acts in the same way but is entirely optional, you could choose to just show your passport or driving license or your ID card and you would have control over which, if any, organisations have access.

OP posts:
Nicesalad · 22/12/2023 11:42

A card used to identify yourself in the same way as you can use a passport to identify yourself would be useful if it was a lot cheaper than getting a passport.
A mandatory ID card that you have to carry around at all times would not be so good! They're two very different things.

Needmorelego · 22/12/2023 11:43

I don't see why there can't be a credit size card with exactly the information that is on a passport.
Most of a passport is just pages for visas and stamps - but if you aren't travelling abroad you don't actually need that. The bio-whatsit information and photo is on one page - so why can't you just have that on a card for ID purposes?

WhatNoRaisins · 22/12/2023 11:43

Agree it would be a good option if cheaper. I use my driving license but I'm guessing less people have them with the cost of learning to drive.

ThinWomansBrain · 22/12/2023 11:47

A summarised passport on a card, for ID rather than travel
whole new system would need £££ and probably several non-functioning IT systems before it worked, and to maintain it thereafter.

LlynTegid · 22/12/2023 11:48

No, as I have a passport and a driving licence.

Original poster
Libertyy · 22/12/2023 11:48

Nicesalad · 22/12/2023 11:42

A card used to identify yourself in the same way as you can use a passport to identify yourself would be useful if it was a lot cheaper than getting a passport.
A mandatory ID card that you have to carry around at all times would not be so good! They're two very different things.

I agree with you, that is why I said an optional ID card. I definitely don’t agree with any system being mandatory hence why I would like an alternative to our current one (which is mandatory) and I would like both to stay optional so people are free to choose which they would like

OP posts:
Catza · 22/12/2023 11:51

I have a European ID card and it is extremely useful. I personally hate the British system where none of the records are shared and you have to get information from one government department to share with another government department even though their offices could be located in the same building corridor.
We have everything linked to our ID cards and you can access all of your life in one place - birth certificates, tax information, GP records, bus pass... This massively cuts down on bureaucracy (and cost). The access system alerts you of who accesses your records and just like with access to any medical records in the UK, a professional needs to have authorisation to look at them. So a police officer would not be able to look at my medical records and the bank clerk cannot check my criminal records.
Information sharing is seamless and in the last 20 years I am not aware of any cases of data breach.

Original poster
Libertyy · 22/12/2023 11:52

Needmorelego · 22/12/2023 11:43

I don't see why there can't be a credit size card with exactly the information that is on a passport.
Most of a passport is just pages for visas and stamps - but if you aren't travelling abroad you don't actually need that. The bio-whatsit information and photo is on one page - so why can't you just have that on a card for ID purposes?

I don’t understand this either, it would make a lot more sense for those of us who don’t want to carry our passports around, but it seems like this would never be something they would actually do. I would prefer this too if people were more comfortable with it tbh. I don’t want any system to be the default, just recognised alternatives

OP posts:
OneTC · 22/12/2023 11:54

No. It would be prelude to a mandatory system

Elphame · 22/12/2023 11:57

No

AgnesX · 22/12/2023 12:02

Not if I'm expected to cough up £80 odd quid which was mooted previously (Tony Blair's govt?)

Not adverse to it in principle as a lot of people don't have a driving licence or passport.

Getting all kinds of ID does not come cheap these days which is very divisive.

Original poster
Libertyy · 22/12/2023 12:02

Also if you don’t want it yourself, Would you not want other people to have this option?

OP posts:
MumEeeee · 22/12/2023 12:03

I have one and I find it useful as I can travel on it in Europe, no need for a full passport

SecondUsername4me · 22/12/2023 12:04

Yes I would carry one. I also think they should be embedded with some sort of chip that paramedics etc could scan, which would then tell them blood type/known allergens/medical info etc and also have a next of kin detailed.

Hoglet70 · 22/12/2023 12:05

As long as it's free I wouldn't mind as I don't have any photo ID (refuse to shell out for a passport I won't use). I don't see the problem with ID cards if you have nothing to hide anyway. Let's face it, every shop card we have means the shop knows more about us than the govt would from having us fill in a form to get a card!

Original poster
Libertyy · 22/12/2023 12:06

SecondUsername4me · 22/12/2023 12:04

Yes I would carry one. I also think they should be embedded with some sort of chip that paramedics etc could scan, which would then tell them blood type/known allergens/medical info etc and also have a next of kin detailed.

I would like this too because for the system I’m talking about wanting, it would have been the person’s choice to share this information in the first place. Like “optional” when applying for it so anyone who doesn’t want it wouldn’t have this information showing

OP posts:
AndThatWasNY · 22/12/2023 12:10

I can't think of a single time I have needed ID except to open bank accounts/crossing a border. I'm old enough that we never got asked for IDs in pubs (even when blatantly too young!). When would I use it?

Original poster
Libertyy · 22/12/2023 12:14

AndThatWasNY · 22/12/2023 12:10

I can't think of a single time I have needed ID except to open bank accounts/crossing a border. I'm old enough that we never got asked for IDs in pubs (even when blatantly too young!). When would I use it?

Since you wouldn’t need it yourself as you don’t use ID for day to day live, would you support it being rolled out in the way I’ve described for those who do want it?

OP posts:
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