Comments on: John Reid: Raising stupidity to an art form … http://www.virtualchaos.co.uk/blog/2007/02/06/john-reid-raising-stupidity-to-an-art-form/ I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf mutes ... or should I? Sat, 21 Jan 2012 19:13:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: Sarah Bartlett http://www.virtualchaos.co.uk/blog/2007/02/06/john-reid-raising-stupidity-to-an-art-form/comment-page-1/#comment-178 Sarah Bartlett Wed, 07 Feb 2007 09:17:18 +0000 http://www.virtualchaos.co.uk/blog/2007/02/06/john-reid-raising-stupidity-to-an-art-form/#comment-178 On the national insurance number issue, a lot of public libraries, especially in deprived areas, became concerned when plans for using the NI number as an identifier for all local government services was mooted. They were particularly concerned that library users would distrust the library (the library has always been one of the most trusted areas of public services) and that usage figures would plummet as a result. The problem with any central identity, although the lifestyle advantages of being able to move seamlessly between services is undeniable, is that along with back system integration, it centralises the information that the state holds about you, and therefore further strengthens the hand of the state in its relationship to the individual. On the national insurance number issue, a lot of public libraries, especially in deprived areas, became concerned when plans for using the NI number as an identifier for all local government services was mooted. They were particularly concerned that library users would distrust the library (the library has always been one of the most trusted areas of public services) and that usage figures would plummet as a result.

The problem with any central identity, although the lifestyle advantages of being able to move seamlessly between services is undeniable, is that along with back system integration, it centralises the information that the state holds about you, and therefore further strengthens the hand of the state in its relationship to the individual.

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