The Identity Card draft bill states that the police will not have the power to demand ID cards and ID cards will not have to be carried. But will the police have the power to perform on-the-spot biometric scans? This would in effect be the same as a demand to see an ID card and yet is easier to carry out, as it is not reliant on the individual to be carrying their ID card.
The only reason to require a card is if the person checking the identity doesn't have access to the National Identity Register and thus has to rely on the card to verify the holder's identity. Why then have biometric information contained on the card, unless there is a scenario where the person checking has no access to the register and yet has the facility to perform a biometric scan.
A traditional photo-ID required the citizen to hold a document containing their information and a photograph that could be visually checked by the official simply by looking at the cardholder. If the biometric data is not checked then the proposed identity card is no better than a normal photo-ID.
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