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Peter Black and South Wales West Liberal DemocratsRepresenting Aberavon, Bridgend, Gower, Neath, Ogmore, Port Talbot, and Swansea |
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Data incompetence proves Wales should hold firm against ID cards
January 14, 2008 12:00 AM
In light of the government's appalling record on data security Welsh Liberal Democrats will urge the Assembly Government to renew its policy of blocking the use of ID cards to access public services in Wales.
In the previous Assembly AMs voted unanimously to support a Welsh Lib Dem motion which directed "the government not to allow ID cards to be used as a requirement for access to public services in Wales which are within the remit of the Assembly."
Mike German, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats said: "The Labour/Plaid government fails to mention ID cards in their One Wales agreement. We know that both Labour and Plaid have a history of ditching previously long held beliefs once in government - that's why we want to restate the Assembly's pledge of June 2005.
"Access to services should be based on need. We want to see people being treated by the NHS because they are sick - not because they have a piece of plastic.
"The previous Assembly agreed with this principle. I hope the current government will continue to hold this line."
Research by Liberal Democrats has revealed that a record 37 million items of personal data went missing last year. Most of the data was lost by government officials but councils, NHS trusts, banks, insurance companies and chain stores also mislaid or published personal information about staff or members of the public as well.
Social Justice spokesperson Peter Black added: "So far, Labour has managed to lose the personal details of 25m child benefit claimants and 3m learner drivers.
"On top of that, they lost the names, dates of birth and national insurance numbers of 45,000 people claiming benefits in West Yorkshire last month.
"2007 was the worst ever year for personal privacy. This shocking record of data loss means we need a total rethink on data protection enforcement and an immediate end to the Identity Cards plan. Labour's ID card project is now in freefall, because faith in the Government's ability to handle personal data has hit crisis point.
"No democratic government can expect an unwilling public to accept having their personal data harvested and stored in the world's largest database when they are not confident that the government can be trusted to keep our personal details safe. It is time to dump ID Cards."
Notes:
Welsh Liberal Democrats have consistently opposed the introduction of ID cards.
Motion for debate on Wednesday
The National Assembly for Wales:
1 Notes that on 7th June 2005, the National Assembly for Wales voted to "direct the Government not to allow ID cards to be used as a requirement for access to public services in Wales which are within the remit of the Assembly."
2 Calls on the current Assembly Government to maintain this policy.
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