The Biometric ID Grid: A Country-by-Country Guide

The Biometric ID Grid: A Country-by-Country Guide:

In last week’s report on India’s demonetization disaster, I began to connect the dots between demonetization, the push for a cashless society, and the biometric identification schemes that will eventually tie everyone’s fingerprints, iris scans, and other identifying details to every transaction they ever make.

Well, that game of “connect the dots” just became even easier to play.

First, it was reported last week that a key panel advising the government on its implementation of the “digital payments ecosystem” (that is being pushed and funded by USAID ) is now recommending that India links its national biometric ID database directly to tax returns.

Read moreThe Biometric ID Grid: A Country-by-Country Guide

Phase II Of The August Event Has Begun – The RFID Smartgun Chip Has Arrived (Video)

H/t reader squodgy:

“It’s obvious the elite/banksters/ptb/parasites want the witch to win the election, but if the trend continues with her exposees of corruption, suicides, murders, rapes etc, even Joe might go for Donald, and then the ptb will panic & we’ll have perpetual Barrie.”

So the Donald or Hillary?

Donald Trump … The Likud Trojan Horse

Donald Trump Picks Mike Pence As Vice President:

ed note {Tony}…Imagine this scenario; Trump wins election. Trump ‘slips on a banana peel’. Netanyahu crony Pence (L-Likud) becomes President. An ‘LBJ’ scenario all over again. I digress……..

Source

For me Trump does not have to ‘slip on a banana peel’, because he and Hitlary are already the best puppets money can buy:

Donald Trump: “We have to stay with Israel and stay with them big time” – “We love Israel. We will fight for Israel 100 percent, 1,000 percent. It will be there forever.”

Hillary Clinton: “If I’m President, We Will Attack Iran … We Would Be Able To Totally Obliterate Them.” (= WW3)

Hillary Clinton: Destroy Syria For Israel

Hillary Clinton At AIPAC: “One of the first things I’ll do in office is invite the Israeli prime minister to visit the White House”

Hillary Clinton: ‘America’s Commitment To Israel’s Security Is Rock Solid And Unwavering’


Aug 10, 2016

Description:

The RFID smartgun chip has arrived. South Sudan rejects more peacekeepers from the UN which are really armed military soldiers. Russia stops a terrorist attack in Crimea. War is being pushed in Ukraine, welcome to phase II of the August event. Libya is calling for the coalition forces to help out in the country, here comes Italy, France and all the others. US wants a cease fire in Syria because there terrorist groups are losing the battle. Russia will have a couple of hours each day so humanitarian can be delivered. Russia and Syria block terrorists from taking Aleppo. Obama has made a change to the elections, DHS will oversee the elections and if there is any sign of a cyber attack the elections will be called off.

Read morePhase II Of The August Event Has Begun – The RFID Smartgun Chip Has Arrived (Video)

ID Card For Every Child In Scotland … To Monitor Parents Who Refuse Vaccinations

First ID cards, then to make the system safer, RFID microchip implants.

If you allow that to happen, then it is all over.

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Every student will be documented on a database

ID card for every child in Scotland (Express, June 14, 2015):

THE SNP is to create a £12million database containing medical details about every child in Scotland, with officials admitting the trove of information could be stored abroad.

It will work alongside the controversial Named Person scheme, allowing health workers to “monitor” youngsters at the click of a button and flagging up parents who refuse vaccinations.

The network will join with another upgraded NHS database containing the medical records of everybody north of the Border, known as the Community Health Index (CHI).

Read moreID Card For Every Child In Scotland … To Monitor Parents Who Refuse Vaccinations

National ID card being covertly rolled out under ‘enhanced’ driver’s license programs

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National ID card being covertly rolled out under ‘enhanced’ driver’s license programs (Natural News, Sep 14, 2014):

“Papers, please?” That’s a question you might hear from authorities trying to verify who you are if you lived in an authoritarian police state. It’s not likely that Americans will be asked to prove who they are anytime soon because, after all, we’ve got a Constitution, and it protects us against unjustified invasions of our privacy.

The same is true of a so-called “national ID card,” right? That could never happen in America. Only it has happened — or will happen, depending upon which state you currently reside in.

If you’ve never heard of the “Enhanced Driver’s License,” or EDL, you’re not alone. Most of us haven’t. But they are just that — national (and soon, global) ID cards [states will be forced to issue them to obscure the fact] that immediately verify who we are, without overtly asking us for our “papers.”

Read moreNational ID card being covertly rolled out under ‘enhanced’ driver’s license programs

Venezuela Enforces Fingerprint Registry To Buy Groceries: What To Do Before Rationing Starts In America

Venezuela Enforces Fingerprint Registry to Buy Groceries: What to Do Before Rationing Starts in America (The Organic Prepper, April 2, 2014):

What if you were forced to “register” in order to buy groceries?  And what if, through that registration, the food you bought could be tracked and quantities could be limited?

That’s exactly the plan in Venezuela right now.  The AP reports that in an effort to crack down on “hoarding” that ID cards will be issued to families.  These will have to be presented before foodstuffs can be purchased.

Read moreVenezuela Enforces Fingerprint Registry To Buy Groceries: What To Do Before Rationing Starts In America

US: National ID Law Takes Effect In 2014, 21 States Compliant (Video)

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National ID Law Takes Effect In 2014, 21 States Compliant (Video) (Before It’s News, Dec 26, 2013):

The REAL ID Act’s enforcement will start next year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced today. The enforcement steps will begin in April 2014 within restricted areas of the DHS headquarters, followed by a phased approach, with substantial enforcement in 2016. The 2005 REAL ID Act prohibits the federal government from accepting driver’s licenses and ID cards that do not meet minimum security standards set by DHS, no later than May 2017. The minimum standards require that driver’s license security features be routinely upgraded to be counterfeit resistant and require applicants to provide documentary proofs confirm true identity.

Read moreUS: National ID Law Takes Effect In 2014, 21 States Compliant (Video)

SIBIOS: Argentina’s Massive, Orwellian Biometric Database

–  Meet SIBIOS: Argentina’s Massive, Orwellian Biometric Database (Liberty Blitzkrieg, Oct 21, 2013):

Two years ago, the UK dismantled their national ID scheme and shredded their National Identity Registry in response to great public outcry over the privacy-invasive program. Unfortunately privacy protections have been less rosy elsewhere. In Argentina, the national ID fight was lost some time ago. A law enacted during the military dictatorship forced all individuals to obtain a government-mandated ID. Now, they are in the process of enhancing its mandatory National Registry of Persons (RENAPER) with biometric data such as fingerprints and digitized faces. The government plans to repurpose this database in order to facilitate “easyaccess” to law enforcement by merging this data into a new, security-focused integrated system. This raises the specter of mass surveillance, as Argentinean law enforcement will have access to mass repositories of citizen information and be able to leverage existing facial recognition and fingerprint matching technologies in order to identify any citizen anywhere.

– From the EFF’s must read article: Biometrics in Argentina: Mass Surveillance as a State Policy

The above passage was written in early 2012, but I had never taken the time to look into Argentina’s burgeoning and extremely creepy biometric database until now. It takes on increased importance to Americans now that Apple has rolled out its iPhone 5NsA.

Don’t worry though, Apple is a private company and they’d never work with the NSA or anything…

The video below is the promotional video of the Biometric ID Database in Argentina, and is an epic example of state propaganda.

Because the Argentine government has such a storied history of doing the right thing…In Liberty,
Mike

Vatican Introduces RFID Tracking For Its Employees

Vatican clergy and employees will be issued with an identity card complete with a microchip-tracking device in sweeping new security measures designed to prevent a repeat of the Vatileaks scandal.

Vatican introduces new security measures after Vatileaks scandal (Telegraph, Dec 2, 2012):

Much tighter controls have already been introduced for anyone seeking access or photocopies of the Holy See’s archives, dossiers and documents.

The Papal Apartments, which include the living quarters of Pope Benedict XVI and the offices of his personal staff inside the Apostolic Palace, are totally off limits to anyone without strict authorisation.

Slovenian priest, Mitja Leskovar, an anti-espionage expert nicknamed ‘Monsignor 007’, is in charge of implementing the new security procedures with the identity cards expected to be introduced from January 1.

Read moreVatican Introduces RFID Tracking For Its Employees

Student Suspended For Refusing To Wear A School-Issued RFID Tracker

Student body ID cards with RFID-embedded chips. Image: Northside Independent School District

Student Suspended for Refusing to Wear a School-Issued RFID Tracker (Wired, Nov 21, 2012):

2:30 p.m. PST UPDATE: A local Texas judge on Wednesday tentatively blocked the suspension, pending further hearings next week.

A Texas high school student is being suspended for refusing to wear a student ID card implanted with a radio-frequency identification chip.

Northside Independent School District in San Antonio began issuing the RFID-chip-laden student-body cards when the semester began in the fall. The ID badge has a bar code associated with a student’s Social Security number, and the RFID chip monitors pupils’ movements on campus, from when they arrive until when they leave.

Radio-frequency identification devices are a daily part of the electronic age — found in passports, and library and payment cards. Eventually they’re expected to replace bar-code labels on consumer goods. Now schools across the nation are slowly adopting them as well.

The suspended student, sophomore Andrea Hernandez, was notified by the Northside Independent School District in San Antonio that she won’t be able to continue attending John Jay High School unless she wears the badge around her neck, which she has been refusing to do. The district said the girl, who objects on privacy and religious grounds, beginning Monday would have to attend another high school in the district that does not yet employ the RFID tags.

Read moreStudent Suspended For Refusing To Wear A School-Issued RFID Tracker

Big Brother Invades Our Classrooms

Big Brother Invades Our Classrooms (Salon, Oct 8, 2012):

Schools across the country are adopting frightening new methods to monitor their students in school and out

The digital tracking and surveillance of school-aged kids has been growing.

Much attention has been given to the phenomenon of corporate tracking of kids’ online activities, activities that violate the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).  The law, originally adopted in 1998, requires Web sites aimed at kids to get parental consent befoSre gathering information about those users who are under 13 years.  Many companies, including a Disney subsidiary, have violated it. Corporate marketing interests, most notably Facebook, are fighting proposed revisions to COPPA.

A second front in the tracking of young people has gotten far less attention. Schools across the country are adopting a variety of different tools to monitor students both in school and outside school. Among these tools are RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags embedded in school ID cards, GPS tracking software in computers, and even CCTV video camera systems. According to school authorities, these tools are being adopted not to simply increase security, but to prevent truancy, cut down on theft and even improve students’ eating habits.

* * *

The RFID tag system popularly known as “Tag and Track” is being sold to schools system across the country by a variety of vendors, including AIM Truancy Solutions, ID Card Group and DataCard.

In general, these systems consist of a school photo ID card affixed to a lanyard that is worn around the student’s neck. The ID has a RFID chip embedded in it. The tag includes a digit number assigned to each student. As a student enters the school or pass beneath a doorway equipped with an RFID reader, the tag ID is read, recorded and sent to a server in the school’s administrative office. The captured data not only provides an attendance list (sent to the teacher’s PDA), but tracks the student’s movement throughout the day.

Read moreBig Brother Invades Our Classrooms

UK: National ‘Virtual ID Card’ Scheme Set For Launch

National ‘virtual ID card’ scheme set for launch (Is there anything that could possibly go wrong?) (Independent, Oct 4, 2012):

Central online identity scheme ‘will be a target for criminals’

The Government will announce details this month of a controversial national identity scheme which will allow people to use their mobile phones and social media profiles as official identification documents for accessing public services.

People wishing to apply for services ranging from tax credits to fishing licences and passports will be asked to choose from a list of familiar online log-ins, including those they already use on social media sites, banks, and large retailers such as supermarkets, to prove their identity.

Once they have logged in correctly by computer or mobile phone, the site will send a message to the government agency authenticating that user’s identity.

The Cabinet Office is understood to have held discussions with the Post Office, high street banks, mobile phone companies and technology giants ranging from Facebook and Microsoft to Google, PayPal and BT.

Ministers are anxious that the identity programme is not denounced as a “Big Brother” national ID card by the back door, which is why data will not be kept centrally by any government department. Indeed, it is hoped the Identity Assurance Programme, which is being led by the Cabinet Office, will mean the end to any prospect of a physical national ID card being introduced in the UK.

Read moreUK: National ‘Virtual ID Card’ Scheme Set For Launch

Interpol Calls For Global Electronic ID Card System

The head of INTERPOL has emphasized the need for a globally verifiable electronic identity card (e-ID) system for migrant workers at an international forum on citizen ID projects, e-passports, and border control management.

Speaking at the fourth Annual EMEA ID WORLD summit, INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble said that regulating migration levels and managing borders presented security challenges for countries and for the world that INTERPOL was ideally-placed to help address.

Read moreInterpol Calls For Global Electronic ID Card System

Russia To Adopt Universal ID Card in 2012


For all those conspiracy theorists out there, 2012 just got a little more ominous. As required by legislation passed this last summer, Russia will adopt a universal ID card starting next year. The Universal Electronic Card (UEC) is intended to eventually replace all local, regional, and national forms of ID, providing a central database through which Russians can access everything from medical insurance to ATMs. According to the official website, the UEC will be adopted by around 1000 national and regional services along with about 10,000 commercial enterprises. The mayor of Moscow has already declared it will be able to handle public transportation there, and we can expect similar adoptions throughout the nation. Will all Russians be carrying a single form of ID that is their only passport to all public and private services? Looks like it. A similar project has started in India, and there are experiments for related concepts in Mexico. Universal ID is starting to catch on around the globe. Where will it spread to next?

Ostensibly, the UEC is designed to push the Russian ID system into the 21st century. Not only is the card to provide a way for citizens to easily make electronic purchases (in person and online) it is supposed to cut down on fraud. While it doesn’t seem to include any biometrics, the card has other security measures. All information (whether for public or commercial use) will be stored in a database, not on the card. The UEC will have a number, a ‘passcode’, that points the user to the appropriate record in the database. It’s unclear what kind of readers (RF, magnetic strip, etc) will be able to access the UEC, but the site says that at least one (perhaps the only one ) will be contactless. For financial transactions users will be able to set predefined limits so that the card can only withdraw a restricted amount of funds over a period of time. Each use of the UEC will require the entry of a personal identification number, and get this, everyone will be granted a fake PIN as well! If someone is coercing you into using your UEC, then enter the fake PIN. Authorities will be notified surreptitiously while the transaction appears to be continuing regularly. I’m sure we can think of a dozen ways to get around that, but still, pretty cloak and dagger there, Russia.


Examples of how the UEC will work. Translations welcome.

Starting in 2012, Russians will be able to carry the UEC and start connecting it to their bank accounts, credit cards, bus passes, etc. Due to the legal mandate most of the businesses and all of the local/regional/national services will be required to accept it. Convenient, yes. Potentially disastrous? Maybe so, but Russia’s not going to be alone in this. India is adopting a universal ID for national identity, and is going to encourage public institutions and commercial enterprises to accept it. That UID, however, will contain some pretty thorough biometrics. Programs in Mexico (powered by a company in the US) will experiment with iris-based identification for public and commercial purposes, albeit on a smaller scale. Universal ID, especially those with advanced security features, seem to be a rising trend on the global stage.

Read moreRussia To Adopt Universal ID Card in 2012

Mexico to Become First Country To Use Iris Scans On ID cards

Mexico will on Monday become the first country to start using iris scans for identity cards, according to the government.


Iris recognition is increasingly used in airports, controlling access to restricted areas, and prisoner booking and release Photo: GETTY

The documents, which will include the eye’s image as well as fingerprints, a photo and signature, will be 99 per cent reliable, according to Felipe Zamora, who is responsible for legal affairs at the Mexican interior ministry.

“The legal, technical and financial conditions are ready to start the process of issuing this identity document,” Felipe Zamora, responsible for legal affairs at the Mexican Interior Ministry, told journalists Thursday.

Critics, including the National Human Rights Commission, have criticised the system, expressing concern that compiling personal data could violate individual rights.

The move will be introduced gradually, with some 28 million minors taking part in a first two-year stage, due to cost $25 million (£15.6 million).

Read moreMexico to Become First Country To Use Iris Scans On ID cards

Army Reveals Afghan Biometric ID Plan; Millions Scanned, Carded by May

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Scanning prisoners’ irises is just Step 1. In Afghanistan, local and NATO forces are amassing biometric dossiers on hundreds of thousands of cops, crooks, soldiers, insurgents and ordinary citizens. And now, with NATO’s backing, the Kabul government is putting together a plan to issue biometrically backed identification cards to 1.65 million Afghans by next May.

The idea is to hinder militant movement around the country, and to keep Taliban infiltrators out of the army, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan commander Lt. Gen. William Caldwell tells Danger Room. “The system allows the Afghans to thoroughly screen applicants and recruits for any potential negative past history or criminal linkages, while at the same time it provides an additional measure of security at checkpoints and major facilities to prevent possible entrance and access by malign actors in Afghanistan,” Caldwell e-mails.

It’s a high-tech upgrade to a classic counterinsurgency move – simultaneously taking a census of the population, culling security forces of double agents and cutting off guerrilla routes. (Plus, bombs and weapons can be swabbed for fingerprints to build files on insurgent suspects.) Gen. David Petraeus, now commander of the Afghan war effort, relied heavily on biometrics during his time in command of U.S. forces in Iraq.

Twenty to 25 Afghans a week are currently caught in the biometric sweep, military officials estimate. That number could grow significantly in the months to come. The “population registration division” of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Interior is “embarking on a program to develop, print and distribute biometrically enabled national ID cards,” e-mails Col. Craig Osbourne, the director of NATO’s Task Force Biometrics.

Read moreArmy Reveals Afghan Biometric ID Plan; Millions Scanned, Carded by May

Big Brother: CCTV turning schools into ‘prisons’

Schools are being turned into “prisons” as children are subjected to increasingly sophisticated surveillance and security measures, according to a report.

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One pupil complained that his school was being turned into a “prison” because of the use of CCTV and other security measures Photo: PA

Researchers found the widespread use of CCTV, ID cards, electronic registration systems, fob-controlled gates and fingerprint technology as schools attempt to crackdown on troublemakers.

Staff at one comprehensive patrolled corridors and playgrounds with radios to make sure children behaved at lunchtimes, while teachers at a private school used technology to spy on children’s computer and internet use.

Researchers suggested that the sheer scale of surveillance was fuelling paranoia among many pupils.

According to the report, children at an all-girls’ secondary school claimed that “voyeuristic” cameras could be used to monitor them in changing rooms and toilets.

The conclusions, in a study by Hull University, come amid growing concerns over a rise in the use of surveillance techniques in schools.

As many as 85 per cent of teachers have reported the use of CCTV in their schools and one-in-10 admitted cameras were even trained on toilets.

This comes despite claims in another report that the collection of CCTV images or other biometric information could contravene the Data Protection Act.

Read moreBig Brother: CCTV turning schools into ‘prisons’

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg – Your Freedom: Britain’s liberty is at stake – it is time to have your say

The state has crept further and further into people’s homes and their private lives under the cover of pretending to act in our best interest. That needs to change, says Nick Clegg.

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Nick Clegg: ‘The Coalition Government is determined to restore great British freedoms’

Your Freedom: suggest the laws you want repealed

During their 13 years in power, the Labour Government developed a dangerous reflex. Faced with whatever problem, legislation increasingly became the standard response. Something needs fixing? Let’s pass a new law.

And so, over the last decade, thousands of new rules and regulations have amassed on the statute book. And it is our liberty that has paid the price. Under the cover of pretending to act in our best interest, the state has crept further and further into people’s homes and their private lives. That intrusion is disempowering. It needs to change.

The Coalition Government is determined to restore great British freedoms. Major steps have been taken already. ID cards have been halted. Plans are underway to restrict the storage of innocent people’s DNA. Schools will no longer be able to take children’s fingerprints without their parents consent.

But we need to do more. The culture of state snooping has become so ingrained that we must tackle it with renewed vigour. And, especially in these difficult times, entrepreneurs and businesses need our help. We must ensure we are not tying them up in restrictive red tape.

So today we are taking an unprecedented step. Based on the belief that it is people, not policymakers, who know best, we are asking the people of Britain to tell us how you want to see your freedom restored.

Read moreDeputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg – Your Freedom: Britain’s liberty is at stake – it is time to have your say

US: Lawmakers Propose National ID Card

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Graham, left, and Schumer, are calling for national ID cards to combat illegal immigration. (AP)

Lawmakers are proposing a national identification card – what they’re calling “high-tech, fraud-proof Social Security cards” – that would be required for all employees in the United States.

The proposal by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-New York) and Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-South Carolina) comes as the states are grappling to produce another national identification card at the behest of the Department of Homeland Security. Virtually none of the states are in compliance with this Real ID program – adopted in 2005 – requiring state motor vehicle bureaus to obtain and internally scan and store personal information like Social Security cards and birth certificates for a national database.

Now comes a bid for a second card.

Homeland Security officials pointed to the Sept. 11 hijackers’ ability to get driver’s licenses in Virginia using false information as justification for the proposed $24 billion Real ID program. Schumer and Graham point to illegal immigration as cause for their plan.

“We would require all U.S. citizens and legal immigrants who want jobs to obtain a high-tech, fraud-proof Social Security card. Each card’s unique biometric identifier would be stored only on the card; no government database would house everyone’s information,” they said. “The cards would not contain any private information, medical information or tracking devices. The card would be a high-tech version of the Social Security card that citizens already have.”

Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the Cato Institute, suggests the plan would undoubtedly lead to a national database. He added that “there is no practical way of making a national identity document fraud-proof.”

What’s more, Richard Esguerra, the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s in-house activist, notes that a national ID card likely would expand from its stated purpose.

“Because of the ID card’s proposed universality, it will likely be requested and required by airlines, insurance agencies, health care providers, mortgage lenders, credit card companies, and so forth,” he said.

Read moreUS: Lawmakers Propose National ID Card

US: ID Card for Workers Is at Center of Immigration Plan

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(Wall Street Journal) — Lawmakers working to craft a new comprehensive immigration bill have settled on a way to prevent employers from hiring illegal immigrants: a national biometric identification card all American workers would eventually be required to obtain.

Under the potentially controversial plan still taking shape in the Senate, all legal U.S. workers, including citizens and immigrants, would be issued an ID card with embedded information, such as fingerprints, to tie the card to the worker.

The ID card plan is one of several steps advocates of an immigration overhaul are taking to address concerns that have defeated similar bills in the past.

The uphill effort to pass a bill is being led by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), who plan to meet with President Barack Obama as soon as this week to update him on their work. An administration official said the White House had no position on the biometric card.

“It’s the nub of solving the immigration dilemma politically speaking,” Mr. Schumer said in an interview. The card, he said, would directly answer concerns that after legislation is signed, another wave of illegal immigrants would arrive. “If you say they can’t get a job when they come here, you’ll stop it.”

The biggest objections to the biometric cards may come from privacy advocates, who fear they would become de facto national ID cards that enable the government to track citizens.

“It is fundamentally a massive invasion of people’s privacy,” said Chris Calabrese, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. “We’re not only talking about fingerprinting every American, treating ordinary Americans like criminals in order to work. We’re also talking about a card that would quickly spread from work to voting to travel to pretty much every aspect of American life that requires identification.”

Read moreUS: ID Card for Workers Is at Center of Immigration Plan

Big Brother: India to issue all 1.2 billion citizens with biometric ID cards

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Millions of Indians who live in remote rural areas will finally have proof of their existence thanks to biometric identity cards

It is surely the biggest Big Brother project yet conceived. India is to issue each of its 1.2 billion citizens, millions of whom live in remote villages and possess no documentary proof of existence, with cyber-age biometric identity cards.

The Government in Delhi recently created the Unique Identification Authority, a new state department charged with the task of assigning every living Indian an exclusive number. It will also be responsible for gathering and electronically storing their personal details, at a predicted cost of at least £3 billion.

The task will be led by Nandan Nilekani, the outsourcing sage who coined the phrase “the world is flat”, which became a mantra for supporters of globalisation. “It is a humongous, mind-boggling challenge,” he told The Times. “But we have the opportunity to give every Indian citizen, for the first time, a unique identity. We can transform the country.”

If the cards were piled on top of each other they would be 150 times as high as Mount Everest – 1,200 kilometres.

Read moreBig Brother: India to issue all 1.2 billion citizens with biometric ID cards

Britain dropped plans for compulsory ID cards

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File photo showing Home Secretary Jacqui Smith holding a sample identity card at a news conference in London September 25, 2008. (REUTERS)

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain said on Tuesday it was dropping plans to bring in compulsory biometric identity cards for airport workers and that the multi-billion pound scheme would remain voluntary for all Britons.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said the government was going ahead with the introduction of the 30 pound cards, which contain personal details, fingerprints and a facial image, but ruled out making them compulsory.

Civil rights campaigners and opposition politicians have long opposed the project, saying it was unnecessary, expensive and an intrusion into private life.

Read moreBritain dropped plans for compulsory ID cards

On the Edge with Max Keiser (06/05/09)

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Read moreOn the Edge with Max Keiser (06/05/09)