Liberty or, errrrr...death. Yeah, that's it...

Greetings, all you uniquely numbered, catalogued, indexed and cross-referenced individuals. The ID card debate has started up again. It was fun to watch the first time round, but now a little boring.

Will it stop terrorism? No, as most terrorists are not career criminals so don't appear on any security agencies radar. Will it stop benefit fraud? Don't make me chuckle and dampen my keks, as any scheme can be circumvented if the financial incentive is large enough - the trick to successful fraud is to exploit discontinuities.

As much information as a security agency is ever going to need, already exists. But it's not available to the right people in the system at the right time, and that has little to do with ID cards. The solution is to harmonise existing systems and make them interoperable. By systems, I really mean people talking and paperwork being exchanged - don't you dare assume that UK bureaucracy is all joined-up, computer-wise.

Will the scheme be an expensive failure? Only in as much as every other Government-sponsored technology project has been.

What game is being played? Well, forget the sideshow, the longer term game is the export of trouble, i.e. passing the problem to another country (usually less developed). It's as if we're putting up barriers because we're out of ideas...no, no, I must be too cynical (or am perhaps a pragmatic realist).

If you want to learn about the technology and some of the problems, have a read of something I, errr prepared a while ago, back in November 2002.

I leave you with two questions to ponder:

• Are we a police state or a policed one?
• Do we say 'liberty' when we really mean 'anonymity'?

Slap the cuffs on Fearless and try and beat a confession outta him.