back to article Brussels agrees pan-European ID standard

The planned universal electronic identity for all European citizens has moved a step closer - the technical interoperability standard has been agreed. The full details will be unveiled 18 November at a conference in Malmo. But following a 14-country, 12-month trial, Brussels has agreed a common specification. The project, …

COMMENTS

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  1. Tim Schomer
    Black Helicopters

    Shouldn't that be...

    STALK ?

  2. Chris Simmons
    Big Brother

    F OFF

    As much as I like the EU, EEC (whatever it calls itself now - I put "European" on any forms asking for nationality) they can just fuck off and shove their ID cards from wherever their sun may shine.

    I do not live in a Stasi-state (oh, wait, yes I do), there is no war going on that I support or agree with, there is no rationing for me to be able to prove I need my powdered eggs and there is no fricking terrorist-threat against Whitchurch (south Bristol, postcode will be provided on acceptance of a decent threat and not some idiot with a firework who thinks he's Osama B-L).

    I reject your reality and substitute my own*

    Signed

    Mr Really-Pissed-Off-With-All-This-Shit

    *thanks Adam

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    personal liability for data loss

    is the only law we can reasonably expect to lobby successfully for anytime soon.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A veritable buzzword ticklist.

    To be fair, this isn't yet another ID scheme, just the way to interlink a lot of databases that also happen to have all your identity data in it. Note especially the "for the children" "on the internet" clause: It implies identity based protection of children on the inernet, by, er, very efficient electronic sharing of verified identity information. That is, ending anonymity on the internet "for the children".

    Then it's good to note that it isn't just about the new exciting possibilities of pan-european data leakage, but also about its normal use. You now run the risk of having to defend yourself in a Spanish or Polish court for something you didn't do because someone else cocked up but oh are they ever so efficient at finding someone to blame across borders now. They'll find you alright. And with "unforgeable" biometric ID (but easily forgeable biometrics) there's no redress for you. Carry on pan-european government.

  5. Dale 3

    ID card

    Yay! Finally a single identity card to replace the myriad other documents you currently need to prove your identity when opening a bank account. I can't wait for the day I can just walk into the bank, show them my new EuroID, UK ID card and electronic passport, and walk out with my new account as soon as they've completed the enhanced CRB check. This is going to change the face of banking forever.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @ Dale 3

    love it, top troll

  7. Ted Treen
    Pint

    @Dale3

    Don't count on it changing anything to do with banking - unless they can cut costs, charge you huge sums or otherwise fleece you to fund huge bonuses. Trebles all round!

    Beer? - well I suppose I'm basically one of the lumpen proletariat at heart.

    But it would be nice to be one of the lumpen proletariat with an automatic weapon, a couple of million followers and the support of the armed forces.

    We WOULD see a few changes then....

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How much..

    is this all costing and who's paying for it?

    If there is to be no compulsory ID card in theUK, what's the point of it and contributing funds?

    If there is going to be a compulsory ID card then great, let's do that project first. By the time that is complete, I'll be retired. They cocked up the driving license - that's why we still have a paper part in the UK - if they cant' even get that right...

  9. JohnG

    Useful for me

    ID is taken for granted in continental Europe. This is probably because, having porous borders, there is a need for internal control to reduce abuse of welfare, taxation and simliar systems. I can understand why people in the UK have a different view but having more cooperation as regards ID and registration when moving between EU states is actually quite useful for those of us who live on the south side of the channel.

    If ID were introduced in the UK without the Big Brother elements behind it, maybe people would not be so averse to the idea. A simple laminated photo ID with your current address and some reference number used by the local town is enough - there is no need for biometrics, RFID and a bunch of linked (and leaky) databases.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Re: Useful for me

    Oh such naivette. Yes, there's use, but it's less for you and more for various governments.

    I'd like ID cards without RFID, biometrics, databases, etc. and with mathematically backed zero-knowledge proofs that let me prove I'm OK without having to hand over my identity all the time. Such cards are not available anywhere on the continent except perhaps Switzerland in some sense. The UK has the double luck of a not entirely apathic populace (instead of the "I have nothing to hide crowd" that drowns out everything else in certain other places) and a government with a long history of bungling things down to and including bungling going metric, something the chaps down under did in a neat score of years. But even with all that luck nothing of this big brotherism is showing signs of getting actually stopped in its tracks. Carry on government.

  11. c3
    Flame

    Why all the fuss ? We already know who you are and what you're doing at any given time.

    The databases are already there, the information is already shared, this is just standardization. Anyone working in IT knows that standardization has a bunch of benefits.

    As for the "we don't need no stinking ID" brits, just don't make us slap bar codes on your fat and still growing asses. You'll get an ID like everyone else in Europe, and you'll like it. And that's that.

    Actually, there's more: soon you'll have to learn how to drive properly.

  12. Ted Treen
    Alien

    @AC 11 Nov. 15:18

    "They cocked up the driving license..."

    No they didn't!

    They cocked up the driving LICENCE.

  13. Nigel Callaghan

    Better acronym

    As we don't seem to have to stick with the initials any more, how about

    sEcure ideNtity Across borderZ lInked - E-NAZI

  14. Smelly Socks
    Alert

    STORK?

    sorry, don't believe you. not even a bureaucrat could be a big enough prat to come up with an acronym like this. tell me you're pulling the piss about it?

    -ss

  15. Captain Mainwaring
    FAIL

    @ Dale3

    Don't know if you've ever noticed Dale, but our beloved Banks already ask us to produce official government ID already to open a account. With some 52 million current passports already in circulation, it would seem that the vast majority of British subjects already have an official identity document with which to open a bank account with. Then there's those tens of millions of UK Driver's licences in circulation too; widely accepted almost everywhere as proof of personal ID and/or Home address. I think to most people you would pass in the street your beloved Euro/UK ID card would seem rather superfluous to requirements.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    Oh joy :(

    And the French will still insist that you produce a telephone bill as well for any official purpose.

    Maybe it really is time to think about voting UKIP :(

  17. Rich 11

    @Captain Mainwaring

    > Then there's those tens of millions of UK Driver's licences in circulation too

    That'll be DRIVING licences.

    FFS.... Stop watching The Wire and reclaim your Life On Mars.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It seems to leave out a critical aspect - quality

    I cannot in all seriousness attach the same trust to an ID issued in one of the newer EU entrants against the IDs as checked in, say, Germany, so that'll be a nice diplomatic quagmire to solve (actually, it isn't - I sorted this years ago but let's see when they arrive at that answer themselves).

  19. paulc
    Stop

    bar codes next???

    applied at birth with RFID chips as well?

    "And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six."

    checksum being 666?

  20. Captain Mainwaring

    @ Rich 11

    Driving Licences or Driver's Licences, the spelling is academic really. What counts are the facts and the reasoning behind those facts.

    FFS..... Stop watching your dictionary and get yourself a life on this Earth.

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Big Brother

    I didn't vote for them.

    "The UK side of the project is run by the Identity and Passport Service - although it makes clear STORK has nothing to do with ID cards or the National Identity Register."

    ...Which has been abandoned following the imminent implementation of the Lisbon Treaty.

  22. dreamingspire
    Grenade

    Its eID

    STORK is seriously about eID, not connected with the UK ID Card farce. And its DWP that's really doing the work. And and its meant to be useful - those few who have posted about that are quite right. Of course its useful to govts, intended to help them collect taxes, etc, by making it impossible for you to say you can't tell them what you are doing (and pay) because you are in another country and the on-line access doesn't work from there. (No. I'm not an insider, but do try to keep an eye on what's really happening.)

  23. MonkeyBot
    Troll

    @@ Rich11

    Shouldn't that be Drivers' Licenses?

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