Friday, January 16, 2004

According to Michael Cross in the Guardian, those of us opposed to the Home Secretary's national ID card scheme are 'nutters', 'ignorant' and 'inconsistent'. Doesn't that go a long way towards raising the quality of the debate?

Interesting contrast with an Economist article I pointed to before Christmas, saying

"Spurred by the misplaced enthusiasm of governments around the world, biometrics seem headed for dramatic growth in the next few years. But calm, public discussion of their benefits and drawbacks has been lamentably lacking. Such discussion is necessary both to prevent the waste of public money in the short term?for the most part, the private sector has been wiser in its adoption of biometrics?but also to regulate what will eventually have the potential to become a powerful mechanism for social control."

Whadaya know, the Guardian coming in to the right of the Economist.

No comments: