[bjelkeman-again]

That is interesting. Living in Sweden, and having lived in the UK for 15 years, I feel the Brits trust their government much less than the Swedes do. In the UK there is strong resistance against a national ID card, as an example. Whereas in Sweden you can hardly live without one.

I got the feeling that the Brits didn't trust their government with that info and control it implies. In Sweden we have the opposite: ID cards are seen as an asset and surveillance cameras are severely restricted by the government, for privacy reasons.

[nly]

Resistance to the national ID card idea mostly came down to two things 1) cost to government, and 2) cost to citizens.

There's also the fact that ~87% of the population already hold a passport, and some of those that don't likely have a drivers license.

[bjelkeman-again]

The funny thing is that the cost to the individual is negligible and the cost to government (and business) is low compared to the benefits. Less fraud, efficient identification processes etc.