Paper Driving Licences...

[ToraToraTora]

Is it true that at some point this year holders of paper licences will be forced to get photo card ones? I think I read it somewhere but I cannot find anything about it now, thanks.

[ChillDoubt]

I don't want to turn this into an ID cards discussion, please stay on topic!
-------------
Good luck with that TTT! Since their introduction Photocard licences and the question of ID cards have become inextricably linked.

[Zeuhl]

Sorry T3 xxx

[Frank97]

Well, this is news to me, mind you I only found out earlier this year that I was supposed to have sent for a new one when I moved, 14 years ago.

[Old_Geezer]

I can not emphasis enough no citizen should need the State to say they are a valid individual. It is way way over the line drawn between reasonable government recording and unwarranted interference/control in citizens' lives.

I'm unsure how this can be anything but an ID card topic, it's plainly what photo drivers licencing is.

And humorous conspiracy references aside, it's a clear example of how to get the public to accept one bad step and prepare them to mentally think the next one ok too. No free State should have the sort of records only needed by the secret police, no matter how useful the elite claims it might be.

I must check the no2id site again then.

[redman41]

In 1998 When photocard driving licences were introduced it was recognised that they would have to be updated from time to time.
So, if you have a photocard licence, you have to change it, and update the picture, every ten years.
Have you had notification from DVLA Tora ?
Recently renewed mine for Free, new Photo supplied

[Old_Geezer]

Based on that Mushroom, I would predict poll tax style protests as soon as the intent is made clear. That said the public accepted the introduction of the "renew/replace and it's photo" rules without as much as a whimper. Maybe there is no hope for the public any more.

[ToraToraTora]

driving licences do not constitute ID cards! Not everyone has one, so how are they ID cards? any more than a library card is

[redman41]

When needing to prove your Identity, Photocard Driving Licences are often asked for. They are therefore an ID Card !

[ToraToraTora]

yes they have identifying properties but they are no an ID card any more than a bus pass is.

[Old_Geezer]

Does your library card have a photograph Tora³ ? Does opting not to have one because you don't wish to have an ID card disadvantage you considerably within your lifestyle ? It sounds a very innocent viewpoint that it doesn't do the same job.

[Bazile]

mushroom25
//what bothers me more than needing a photo with this change is the amount of reported instances of blind incompetence by the DVLA - in particular, those who send their licences off, only to find them returned with half their existing competencies expunged, and no recourse other than to pay to re-sit the requisite driving tests again..... //


Really ?
What if you take a copy of the licence before sending it off - would that satisfy them of what your competencies are ?

[ToraToraTora]

currently you have a driving licence right? so all we are talking about is a picture. You can opt not to have a drving licence if you like, many have. An ID card system is completely different. It's enforced (or pointless), a driving licence is just another form of Id that, no different to any other. A picture changes little, there are many forms of ID that have a picture, they are not ID cards by the back door.
Work Passes
Train season tickets
Libary cards
Bus passes
Martial Arts society memberships
etc
are they all ID cards passes by the back door? Utter hogwash.

[redman41]

If you needed to prove who you are Tora, what Documents would you use to identify yourself ?
We all have to prove who we are at times and that's not just to the Police either

[ToraToraTora]

Passport

[ToraToraTora]

.....and even that does not constitute and ID card.

[redman41]

If you have ever watched the Bourne Films, he had a Bag full of Passports.
Nothing is fool proof......lol lol

[ToraToraTora]

who said it was?

[Graham-W]

If it's not mandatory to carry your driving licence with you they are of no use as ID cards. The police have a direct link to DVLA to determine if you have a licence and what sort it is, if you are truthful when giving your details.

[joggerjayne]

ID cards by the back door?

As distinct from an iPhone which records ... (and stores centrally so that, as we know from the News, it can be accessed by all sorts of people)

Your name and address as account holder
Your email address
Who you email
Who you phone
Who you text
Where you go
How fast you drive
Which shops you go in
What you photograph
Where you take each photograph
Who your friends are
How often you see them if they have a smart phone too

etc
etc
etc

So we are really worried about personal ID privacy, right?

[factor-fiction]

Regarding mushroom's link which suggests that in 2015 it'll be mandatory to replace a paper licence with a photocard version, I think that is an old news item that turned out not to be correct. I recall that it was announced later that this change wasn't going to happen. I can see nothing on the gov.uk website about this. I'd be interested to see if anyone had an authoritative up to date link on an official site such as gov.uk or the AA