National Identity Card

In the UK, demonstrating that you are who you say you are is a bit more difficult that in other countries. You will have experienced it yourself if you have ever tried to open a bank account in this country. In other non anglo-saxon countries is enough to show you National Identity Card, a document, guaranteed by the State, that has your name, picture and a number that is unique to you and is called the National Identity Number . In the UK there is no such document, the funny thing is its absence is in the sake of privacy!.

Now, let me explain why I say it is funny than in the sake of privacy there is no NID. There is no such thing as privacy in this country. Let me illustrate this with a few examples:

• in this country there are three agencies that keep a record of all your financial movements (i.e. you bank is obliged to communicate them your credit card balance periodically, your gas supplier will immediately tell them if you have not payed a bill...), you can see your records at this agencies, for example here (paying of course);
  
• in London (and I guess other big cities as well) they control whether a car has payed the "congestion charge" by recording with cameras the traffic in all streets. Then they have software that identifies vehicles and licence plates and checks in some database if that vehicle has payed the charge or not.
• newspapers here do not hesitate to publish the picture of suspects of crimes or frauds. Some of them are found not guilty, but only after their picture and name is known by everybody.

I am not in favour of the State having too much information about the citizens but I find incoherent not having a NID here, where the State already knows everything about you.

Note: In the UK Passports and driving licenses can be used as proof of identity but not everybody has them (only if you drive or have travelled abroad you will have them) and they are not always sufficient.