NO2ID responds to 'fundamentalist' claims

NO2ID General Secretary Guy Herbert responds to a claim that opponents of ID cards are "cousins of the market fundamentalists, who believe that in the beginning were private property and free markets, and ever since the state has been muscling in...[They are] information fundamentalists who think that in the beginning was 'me', fully formed, and that national insurance numbers, CCTV, passports and - the ultimate betrayal - identity cards are forms of assault."

In response the article says:

What unites us is we are thinking of society rather than the goals of the state. To criticise a bureaucratic grand project in principle is not "implying personal information is property rather than a social construction that would not exist but for government". Quite the contrary. To ask important questions about what personal information and privacy are, and should be, is to repudiate such know-nothing nostrums. Personal information is important because it is constructed in relationships, because it mediates trust, and because making official relationships obey coherent rules maintains the legitimacy of government functions. It is the stuff of all our lives - not property - but worthy of at least as much respect.

Thanks to Steve for highlighting this.