Charles Clarke has an interesting Op-Ed in The Times of London on the British parliamentary debate over National ID Cards. While British subjects do not have a Bill of Rights in the sense that we do, they are afforded some protections through the EU Constitution, and there is a strong interest in civil liberties in Britain.
Natl ID Cards in Britain
I have mixed feelings about this issue. In-part it depends on if one HAS to carry them, and who can demand to see it and under what circumstances. To any American, the demand "..Papers!" is repugnant. Yet the authoritarian TSA grope-sessions now taking place at our airports should be also repugnant.
To support them, American biometric ID cards would have to be absolutely bullet-proof as far as their legitimacy and indiviuality; and both universal and strictly circumscribed. Paradoxically, you need to both make accessible to double as your driver's license, universal bank and credit-card...and have draconian laws against mis-use. Perhaps the info can be carried on the card itself, and the authorization access code is on a National database. That way, the government would only have the basic-outline of your ID, and a series of 'go'/'no go' decision-gates that could also be used by businesses and financial institutions for credit/debit transactions, retail loyalty-cards, etc...
