ID card ‘would not beat terrorism’
The UK Government’s Assistant Privacy Commissioner, Jonathon Bamford, has been on tour in Australia, and recently addressed a seminar on corporate privacy. According to the Australian Daily Telegraph, he spoke about the ineffectiveness of ID cards as an anti-terrorist measure:
“I think it’s debatable how far an identity card system really does prevent terrorism,” Mr Bamford said.
British government ministers who support identity cards stopped short of saying that such a card would have prevented the recent London bombings, he said.
And those responsible for the 2004 Madrid train bombings all had valid identity cards, he said.
“So I don’t think you can argue that identity cards are essential to prevent terrorism because if they are, countries which have them, like Spain, haven’t done a very good job,” he said.
Mr Bamford also said identity was not an issue in the September 11 attacks in New York, nor the 2002 Bali bombings.
“Indeed the modern terrorist, the suicide bomber, seems particularly keen on people knowing their identity once they’ve made an attack,” he said.
