12 December 2008
A new poll conducted by ICM for NO2ID [1] shows that support for ID cards is significantly less than the latest Home Office push-poll [2]. More significantly, it indicates that the public opposes government data-trafficking by a majority of 2 to 1. This difference has prompted NO2ID to launch a hard-hitting video campaign on YouTube to highlight the database behind the card and what it will do to real people's lives.
NO2ID [3] has periodically asked an identical unbiased question about ID cards since June 2005 – an approach described by UK Polling Report as 'admirable' [4]. During that time support for the idea has steadily declined to 48%.
Asked by ICM what they thought of 'storing information [on large computer systems] and sharing it between different parts of government', 65% said they thought it was a bad idea, while just 31% said it was a good idea. Slightly more women (67%) than men (64%) were opposed.
The online video campaign dramatises the real personal dangers of such 'information sharing'. Confronting the myth that 'If you've done nothing wrong, then you have nothing to fear' from being identified, the film 'Take Jane' shows a glimpse of one woman's story, in a future Britain where the omnipresent databases make hiding impossible [5]. The grim message is that the ID scheme isn't simple and isn't safe.
Phil Booth, NO2ID's national co-ordinator, said;
'Support for ID cards is already under 50%. Even the government's own biased surveys now show falls in support. The more people know, the less they like it. Once it is common knowledge that the ID scheme is *designed* to pass around the information it collects about you, then the scheme is politically doomed.'
-ENDS-
Notes for editors:
1) ICM Research interviewed a random sample of 1001 adults aged 18+ by telephone between December 3rd-5th 2008. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Further information at www.icmresearch.co.uk
The poll data will shortly be available online, but if you require a copy of the results in the meanwhile please contact Phil Booth directly on national.coordinator@no2id.net
2) The Home Office 'tracking studies' achieve nominally positive ratings for the ID scheme by asking people to list possible (and not necessarily realistic) benefits of the scheme *before* asking them what they think of ID cards.
Until NO2ID made a Freedom of Information request for them, the Home Office did not publish in full the questionnaires used in the quarterly study. It still does not publish the results data.
3) NO2ID is the UK-wide non-partisan campaign against ID cards and the database state. See http://www.no2id.net/dbstate for a list of database state initiatives that NO2ID is actively opposing.
4) See http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/
5) The video is on YouTube at: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=
NO2ID's website explains more at: http://www.no2id.net/TakeJane/
Broadcast-standard video is available for TV or theatrical performance. Please contact press@no2id.net
For further information, or for immediate or future interview, please contact:
Phil Booth (National Co-ordinator, national.coordinator@no2id.net) on 07974 230 839
Guy Herbert (General Secretary, general.secretary@no2id.net) on 07956 544 308
Michael Parker (Press Officer, press.officer@no2id.net) on 07773 376 166
The NO2ID Campaign
Box 412
19-21 Crawford Street
London W1H 1PJ
enquiries@no2id.net
Tel: 07005 800 651
Press: click here
