Originally Posted by
Tumbleweed666
Self evidently they were, when many travel organizations wouldnt accept them, when the means of checking validity was to flick one and listen if it made the right noise (no, really, I am not making that up),and there was no way at all of reading them so anyone could easily have had a faked one in your name and cause you issues.
Well to be fair they did actually get around to buying some readers for use at border control points, late last year.
Originally Posted by
Tumbleweed666
Yes and good riddance, amongst many other flaws they were a way of criminalising the entire population. Oh, no ID card on you sir? You'd better come to the police station. Oh, changed your address? £2K. Oh you lost it? Another £85 please.
No there was no requirement to carry it with you at all times, hence why the value of the thing to law and order was diminished when instant verification of a persons ID was made impossible. Although I know there would obviously have been a cost to the consumer to replace a lost one, would that have really cost more than a new one (£30) to obtain?
Originally Posted by
Tumbleweed666
Better come in for questioning, there was a burglary and the suspect had previously bought something with a credit card and validated that with an ID card with your name on it. We are sure it was valid and thus must have been you as it definitely made the right noise when we flick it. DOnt just think about your ID cards in your hands, think about a fake ID card with your name on it, in a crims hands. How easy to produce a fake one? Dead easy, because there was no way to check if it was real !
Well the
Daily Mail was able to find someone who could hack them and create an altered clone card, which they then did. They were also able to check whether the card worked or not.