EU plans for the UK national identity card

biometric passport today - europe tomorrow The Labour Party’s identity card scheme consists of two documents:

The National Identity Card (NIC)
The Biometric Passport (e-passport)

Your details will be spread over two databases:

The National Identity Register (NIR) - operated by the U.K.
SIS II – operated by the European Union

The biometric passport (e-passport) is being introduced without any public consultation and includes the support of the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives.

The introduction of the e-passport started in October 2005 and includes a contact-less chip.

the biometric passport, e-passport - what is the EU doing?

The European Union plans to have all passports comply with a standard format so that there is a single, pan-european biometric identity document. This will include a microchip (contact less-chip) containing biometric identifiers (face pattern/fingerprints/eye-scans). Information will be stored about you on a central EU database, called SIS II.

With all countries in the EU issuing this passport, the biometric or euro-passport (e-passport for short), will to all intent and purpose be a European Identity Card. So even though you have ‘British Passport’ written on the front of your biometric passport, it is in fact the same as that held by French, Germans, etc.

The Biometric Passport compliments EU plans under the Shengen Agreement. This Agreement enforces an ‘open borders’ policy and removal of border controls, allowing for unrestricted travel between countries in Europe. This will increase the risk of illegal immigrants and bogus asylum seekers entering the U.K.

In conjunction with the Biometric passport, the EU (backed by the UK government), introduced the Data Retention Directive which allows for the systematic recording of citizens private telephone and internet communications.

The government began introducing the biometric passport (Euro-ID) in October 2005.

are UK citizens protected against the biometric passport? As the U.K. is not a fully signed up member of the E.U. we are not bound by the Shengen Agreement (‘open borders’ policy). This also extends to the introduction of biometrics on our passports and the e-passport. The European Union Council has declared that the U.K is excluded from adopting these measures. Hence, the EU can not legally force the biometric passport/pan-european ID on the British people.

will the goverment protect us against e-passport? Ironically, it was the U.K. government under Tony Blair that requested from the European Court of Justice that rights of the U.K. be removed and our citizens included in the pan-european biometric ID plans, hence giving up our sovereign rights and leaving us defenceless against the e-passport.

The government then claimed the U.K. “had no choice” but to accept biometric passports, and that we were forced to do it because the EU would adopt biometrics. This claim is false; there was never any obligation by the E.U. for the U.K. to adopt biometric passports.

how is pan-european identification being introduced? Pan-european identification is being introduced by stealth in three stages:

October 2005 the government changed the traditional British Passport to the (facial) biometric passport including a microchip for additional biometrics (finger and eye-scans)
2007 the goverment introduced compulsory registering on NIR for passport applications.
in 2010, following Parliamentary approval, biometric ID cards will be compulsory for everybody

The contact-less microchip being championed by the EU will be distributed with passports in all EU states. There has been no public discussion or approval for the EU plans. The microchip incorporates a radio antenna so that information can be read from it over a distance without the knowledge of the holder. Information from the NIR will shared with the EU database (SIS II). The US government has rejected contactless chip technology due to compatibility and security issues.

what is SIS II (SIS or 'Big Sister')? The Shengen Information System (SIS II), or as we prefer to call it 'Big Sister' - is the central EU database that enables the Shengen Agreement (‘open borders’ policy) to operate. Countries adopting the biometric passport have to transfer information about their citizens onto SIS II.

Under the Data Protection Act 1998 the government can transfer your information to these EU states without your permission.

The original SIS was set up “to exchange data on people’s identities”, and SIS II will be a larger version designed to check individual’s identities and movements. EU documentation speaks of “the introduction of rights of surveillance” and of SIS II providing “authorities…by means of an automated search procedure, to have access to alerts on persons and property”.*
The EU’s vision is that SIS II “could in the near future, become not only a reporting system but an investigation system”. **

To make the system effective the EU plans to define “new categories of data” which will be held about you on SIS II. This data would be available to all EU states (plus Europol and Eurojust). This is of particular concern considering the dubious history of some of the security services of these countries, especially the former Eastern Block countries which are set to join the EU.
how can i protect myself against the biometric passport? During 2005, ID Card and You campaigned for members of the public to renew their passport to maintain their biometric-free status. These passports did not contain a microchip and hence there is no risk of biometrics being added to them.

Today you will be forced to provide a facial biometric and details will be stored on an RFID. The government is creating interrogation centres around the country which you will have to attend and your details will be stored on the NIC. Under the Identity Card Bill, additional biometrics and information can be transferred to the microchip without your consent.

You can still prevent further expansion of a pan-european identificatoin by:

opposing further progression of the Identity Card Bill and the biometric passport program. Write to your M.P. and M.E.P. today
tactically voting for either Conservative or Liberal parties at any election. Both are opposed to the biometric ID card plans as part of their manifestos.
boycott companies supporting european biometric identification and surveillance plans
vote No in any EU referendum held in the UK