You know the arguements made by the Government and other proponents of ID Cards. They will secure our borders, stop immigration, stop benefit cheats, stop terrorism and so on.
If anybody dare suggest they will ever be used to regulate our behaviour they are denounced by the powers that be as scare mongerers and so on.
So imagine my suprise when in the lobby of the Berlin hotel in which I am staying I saw this. Apparently since January 1st this year all fag machines in Germany require you to put your EU ID card in to allow you to buy cigarettes. Of course this is just to ensure that kiddywinks don't buy cigs.
But do they log the purchase against the card. Could it be used for future taxation purposes etc. Next time anybody tells you you have nothing to worry about, take a look at this photo and tell me what is next?
Update
Interesting points made elsewhere about this.
Well, s9 Schedule 1 of the Identity Cards Act 2006 says,
The following may be recorded in the entry in the Register for an individual-
(a) particulars of every occasion on which information contained in the individual’s entry has been provided to a person;
(b) particulars of every person to whom such information has been provided on such an occasion;
(c) other particulars, in relation to each such occasion, of the provision of the information.
Which seems to cover it.
And in evidence to the Science and Technology Committee (May 2006) it was mentioned that,
The few scenarios they do have mapped out at the moment I think still exhibit an interesting level of understanding. There is one talking about somebody who is 18 going into an off-licence and being able to assert proof of their age, and a 70 year-old looking for a 65 year-old discount. It then goes on to describe how the ID card will be used to reveal their date of birth in order to prove their age.
To me that just highlights the type of issue we have been trying to flag up for the Home Office: Why would you want to reveal somebody’s date of birth in that scenario? You would want to reveal their age; their entitlement that is, that they are over 65. You do not even have to reveal their age, but that they are over 65.
Oh fuckity, fuckity fuck.
3 comments:
Now who is picking up the info on which card is buying the fags. Is it the government, for tax purposes, or the fag producer, for marketing purposes & to try to convince regulators it's not flogging to minors etc?
Hmmmm. I wonder.
Besides, you can still buy cigs if you're a minor with this mechanism, as long as you can find an adult to bribe.
ID cards are commonplace in the majority of large and small businesses today.
PBC,
Indeed they are, and that is a private contractural agreement between the employer and employee. I don't like them personally, but it is not my business to tell an organisatíon how to operate.
However it is my business to argue agin the creation of a nationalised system of identity such as the Natioanl Identity card and the associated databases. Whether for nationals or vistors.
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