The Register has noticed that the glitches related to compulsory ID cards and passports led to changes from the Passport Office concerning renewal.
The new UK Identity and Passport Service, spawned out of the
Passport Service after the ID Cards Act became law on Saturday,
celebrated its birth by trying to stop people renewing their passports
whenever they want to, whether or not the passport is about to expire.
The change in terms and conditions were slipped into the website
without announcement, and were quite clearly ID card related.
And then, spookily close to the publication of The Register's first version of this story drawing attention to the change, they changed it back again. Fortunately, we have witnesses and while, no, we can't fathom precisely what they're up to, it's probably reasonable to guess that they know they have a potential problem, and they're going to have to figure out how to deal with it before ID cards go live.
Given the number of potential problems attendant on ID cards, we can expect more 'glitches' and bureaucratic procedures forcing us to fit in with their needs. One of the first tips is to renew one's passport before compulsory ID cards come into effect:
Far better, surely, to keep an eye on the likely ETA of the full scale
system (this probably will be some time, possibly considerable time,
after 2008) with biometric induction centres and a live ID register.
Then renew your passport just before this happens. From the perspective
of the individual, this buys up to 10 years card-free existence,
although the 10 isn't guaranteed, because we don't know what other dumb
stuff they might get up to during the period. And from the point of
view of organised opposition, a huge spike of early renewals just
before the off would likely paralyse the system.
This sounds like the start of a plan to me.