Bubblehammerblog

After numerous high-profile government mishaps with its citizen's personal data - a laptop containing 150,000 medical records left in a taxi by an official being just one example - it seems the majority of the British public are still happy to entrust their private details, including fingerprints, to anyone in a suit who asks for them.

A poll cited in today's Guardian reveals that as many as 75% of UK citizens would be willing to provide biometric, ie. fingerprint or iris recognition data, to government agencies, banks & other organisations. Fear of identity theft & credit card fraud was said to be the reason.

The same poll conducted in France showed 59% willing to comply. The figures for Italy were 63%, & Germany 62%. This is a considerable diffence. How can it be explained?

I suggest it's question of political culture & history. The British, unlike the other countries mentioned, have not experienced serious political instability since the Civil War, & are unable to imagine the State as anything other than the remote, rather dull entity they currently perceive it to be. It may ocasionally become an an annoyance, but for most people it could never be a threat.

As well as a lack of awareness of the social implications of new information technologies, there's also a very limited public grasp of the climate, energy, & resources issues that face the planet. A failure of imagination. This helps to explain the British public's lack of interest in the preservation of its Civil Liberties, & by extension other people's.

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