They don't have to.

{This bit is oversimplified, but gives the gist}

Step one - void the existing card (centrally).
Step two - edit central record, new photo, biometrics, new address etc.
Step three - Issue replacement card to new address/new person same name.

Unless you have to use the card every day, the first time you try and prove yourself, will be some time after someone has used 'your ID'. Your card will come up on screen as being invalid, disabling your entitlement to whatever you needed to prove your ID for. If it is compulsory for you to be carrying a valid ID card when say stopped by a police officer, what happens then ? I think it is one of those 'helping the police with their enquiries' situations.

How do you prove you are who you say you are when the central record says otherwise ?

In the meantime, the ID thief will have used the new card for whatever illegal purpose they wanted it for in the first place and modified the central record to something else to cover their tracks.

You end up 'in limbo', possibly with no access to your bank account/s etc until such time as you can prove to the authorities that you are who you say you are.

Some excellent points there Roy some of which I have heard before in a radio discussion which sought to explore the draw backs and advantages of the ID cards but could find few of the latter

Also when one sees the mess the government made when handling smaller projects like the computerised CSA, Health Service records /Passports and many other delayed/over budget disasters would you really trust these people to be in charge of collating all your details ..get them wrong and you could end up without health care/pension.

As well as the security issues surrounding them R/V points out,(we all know it doesn`t take the scumbags long to hack into new security measures ) what else bothers me is the health details going on them. Nearly all of us have insurance policies, what happens to people who have been gene tested for particular disease, will that info be going on them? Will the insurance companies have access to that info, how confidential will the info be, who will be privvy to it??

The paying of this ID card ..what happens if those that dont wont to fork out the money for one or those that cant afford it.. what about the folk that are homeless that do not get benifits as they have no home address etc ?

Hopefully all homeless people get benefits don't they? I do hope so, they're the ones who need it most imo!

I do hope you're wrong Roy, coz this could end up a nightmare! Just like the CSA probably! I'm only in favour of it if it's 100% foolproof and safe.

To get benifits you must have a home address for those that are homeless....meaning on the streets there is none

Well that's just typical isn't it, poor s*ds, I thought they just had to register with a Post Office to collect their benefits. I'm really sad about that.

Benefits are all done with either bank, or post offices accunt cards now - and you need an address to have a bank account, or to have a P.O account, for the statements to be sent to.

It's the same when books were about though....you need an address to have the book registered to.

Here is a little tongue in cheek thing to show what may happen

http://www.adcritic.com/interactive/view.php?id=5927

There's also the issue of the sale of our personal information by government agencies - eg DVLA - imagine what they could do with the central database.

The billions of pounds that is likely to be spent on the project could pay for thousands of policemen/women and intelligence agency staff. I'm sure that they would achieve far more than ID cards possibly could.