Health Records

The petition is entitled create a national clearing house for patient data in the NHS and the explanatory notes say

"The NHS data system is a shambles. One hospital cannot see any records from say a GP or a hospital at the moment & if they can get them it's pure luck.

The airline industry has SITA, which connects together the disparate systems of all airlines & airports in the world, translating data into a known format to the recipient.

We petition the PM to impliment a similar system to this for the NHS & abandon any dramatic redesign & rollout of new systems to GPs, Hospitals etc. This will cost much less (if not botched) & work much better"

It would appear that the petitioner has not heard about the NHS "Spine" project. I have, and what I've heard I don't like. I've requested that my records not be included, and written to the health minister and my MP accordingly.

Other people have explained better than I could the whys and wherefores of objecting to this project: The Big Opt Out looks like a splendid explanation.

I have every sympathy with people with unusual problems needing to be able to communicate these to different medics. Medic-Alert bracelets are an excellent solution for some people; others may wish to have, perhaps, letters from their GP to carry with them when away from their usual carers. Other individual solutions are possible, without invading all of our privacy for the sake of nominal convenience for a few.

Two further points: one, the petitioner himself identifies that this might only work "if not botched". Since the government's track record on IT projects being unbotched is so very ... splendid ... I am loath to trust them with any more. And two - a personal anecdote from a practice nurse. Some mini-version of this was wheeled out and staff were requested to test it. An enormous proportion of the searches were on "David Beckham". Mmmmm, trust-worthiness! Respect for privacy! Yummy!!

(I have tagged this as "ID Card" relevant, because of my mental connection between these different projects to database-ise us all.)

ID Card Costs

Three petitions I broadly agree with but that annoy me by their similarity here ...

The first is entitled Supply the first ID card free of charge and the explanatory notes say

"I object to ID cards on the grounds they are just another money making exercise for the UK Government. I believe that if the government really believed in them they would issue the first one for free. If I then erased mine by my own error then I have no objection to pay for it to be replaced."

I object to ID cards (and most particularly the NIR) on a whole range of grounds - but this is a damned fine one to start with. Of course, I suspect the Government's answer will be that the things have to be paid for somehow and if the cost isn't explicitly to the purchaser, then it'll be carried by all tax-payers. And since they're nominally not going to be compulsory (at least at first) why should everyone carry the cost, etc. But still - it's a good spirited suggestion.

The second is entitled Issue the first National Identity Card free of charge and the explanatory notes say

"By the time National Identity Cards are required to be carried the issuing system will have been paid for through taxes. On that basis, as we have already paid for it, the first National Identity Card should be issued free of charge."

I imagine that the answer is going to be that the issuing system may have been paid for initially through taxes but that these costs should be recouped to be fair to those who aren't getting one, or something along those lines.

The third is entitled remove the cost of ID cards, should they be compulsory and the explanatory notes say

"Sould everyone over the age of 16 have to have an ID card then the cost of this should be nothing, as people do not have a choice."

Again, the response is obvious: the funds have to come from somewhere, even if they are compulsory. Additionally, we can expect a good deal of blether about how they will not (to begin with) be compulsory, that it will simply be "convenient" to have one.

Scrap ID Cards

The petition is entitled Scrap the idea to introduce ID cards and the explanatory notes say

"Its totally unnecessary, we already have passports and photo driving liciences. An extra card is extra cost to public and not needed."

There are two problems with this petition. From an ID-card-opponent's perspective it's unfortunate that no mention is made of the NIR - the National Identity Register - database on which the cards are to be supported. In effect, ID cards in themselves are not a problem necessarily, whereas the NIR without the ID cards could still be a dangerous tool.

The other fundamental problem is that there has already been a petition on the subject, to which the PM has written (apparently personally) a response. It is unlikely that any new petition will have any more effect than the earlier one - especially since the new petition doesn't mention any of the flaws in the initial petition's response.

Microchipping Again

The petition is entitled Ensure That The Public Will Never Be Subjected To Any Kind Of Human Micro-Chipping and the explanatory notes say

"A Petition That ,The Public Will Never Be Subjected To Any Kind Of Human, Micro-Chipping Device Implants, Such As The Veri Chip, Or ANY Other type of Tracking Device, Which Would Ultimately Take Away Our Civil Liberties."

Oh, look, someone else who can't do a simple search to see if there are duplications ... I talked about this in Microchipping a few weeks ago. The two petitions are fundamentally identical. Why? (The major difference is this petitioner's fascinating use of capitalisation.)

Passport Security Interviews

The petition is entitled reduce the persecution of the majority of citizens for the crimes of a tiny minority and the explanatory notes say

"Passport security interviews will add to the ever increasing list of bureaucratic systems that seek to inconvenience everyone because of a few fraudsters.

Shops won't make up car number plates without photo ID and vehicle log book (though I can buy a kit to make my own!); my children need passports & utility bills to have a junior savings account; I can't pay credit cards bill half cash, half cheque – why?

Fraudsters will fake the required documents or find other methods, so why persecute everyone!

As society infringes the liberty of the majority, waiting in endless queues to prove their innocence, the less time and effort becomes available for catching the villains.

You can't make everything foolproof as fools are too ingenious, but why try to spoil everything for everyone?

Make things easier and more innocent, and then the criminals will become more careless and more obvious, rather than forcing them to become ever more sophisticated and devious."

The initial sentiment is excellent; I wholly agree with the principles this petitioner is asking the PM to act on.

But some of the content is badly phrased and some of it is just plain lunatic. I can't for the life of me see why the inability to pay credit cards half-cash and half-cheque is relevant (nor, for that matter, can I see how/why the bank is enforcing this, but never mind) to the nonsensical "security interviews" for "proving one's identity". The line "You can't make everything foolproof as fools are too ingenious, but why try to spoil everything for everyone?" is airy persiflage meaning nothing, and entirely irrelevant to the criminals, since they're not as such foolish!

And then the last paragraph ... I don't think it's right at all. In fact I think it's potty. All of it.

Love the fundamental point: the ridiculousness of the "passport security" things. But the rest? Madness!

Online Voting and ID Cards

The petition is entitled introduce online voting in tandem with the introduction of the UK ID card scheme and the explanatory notes say

"I object to the introduction of the unpopular yet inevitable UK ID card scheme. However, this promised "secure" scheme should allow online voting through a secure internet connection. Should the majority of the UK, ID card-holding electorate sign an e-Petition it shall be introduced as law or be adopted as policy. Repeatedly this government has chosen to ignore the will of its people who they represent and serve. The people of the UK deserve a reactive government that is in accord with the electorate."

I agree, very strongly, with the sentiments expressed by the petitioner - in that the ID card scheme (and most particularly the little-mentioned NIR "database" associated with it) is utterly reprehensible, insecure, not going to achieve what it's claimed to be for, etc., etc. I could write a very pretty rant.

On the other hand, I don't see how the scheme can provide a secure way of voting online. At least, it could be made to, I think, but not as it's proposed. And if it were possible, I'd be more interested in seeing it being used for actual online voting in elections than e-Petitions, which as I've discussed before in the blog post entitled "Referendum" would need to be properly written and so on ... anyway, this is an Interesting Idea and I am Thinking About It.

Microchipping

The petition is entitled make a law banning the microchipping of human beings in U.K. and the explanatory notes read

I would like a law passed by Parliament banning microchipping in humans.

No explanation, no expansion, no reasoning, no ... nothing. Leave aside how much this would be irritating to Prof. Kevin "Cap'n Cyborg" Warwick, perhaps the UK's most classic example of a mad professor, not to mention the "VIP" customers of the Baja Beach Club ... Certainly, there are unpleasant uses of this technology, and I'd oppose any kind of compulsory chipping, but there are also benign uses - banning the technology for the sake of it seems particularly pointless.