Personal data leaks easily, especially ID data

If this doesn't concern you enough to lurch into some degree of opposition to ID cards and the national identity register, what will? It's from a very good article giving background to how we got here as well as the rather frightening example of how easy it is to strip important identity details from innocuous discards.

what the BA lapse shows is that companies cannot be trusted to gather this information without it getting out to criminals who would abuse it. The potential for identity theft is huge, but the number of agencies among which it will be shared is just growing and growing."
And that is where concern comes in over the UK's proposed ID cards, which may one day be needed to travel to the US. According to the Home Office, the identity cards bill currently going through Parliament allows for up to 40 pieces of personal information to be held on the proposed ID card, with digital biometric details of all of your fingerprints, both your irises and your face, all of which can be transmitted to electronic readers. The cards will contain a microchip the size of a grain of sand linked to a tiny embedded antenna that transmits all the information when contacted by an electronic reader.

What it doesn't say is that private companies will inevitably be involved in the infrastructure, delivery and end-use of ID cards; they are leaky. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Investment tip: look out for manufacturers of passport holders that protect against electronic scanning and those who produce copper wire webs that could be the main basis for such a holder.

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Q. What could this boarding pass tell an identity fraudster about you? A. Way too much:
Filed in: ID_cards, UK, RFID, identity-theft, USA