‘Third’ of DVLA car records wrong (BBC News)

Cars would seem a very simple set of items on which to keep a database since, other than ownership details, very little changes from the day they are created to the day they land on the scrap heap. But this report implies that even the registration numbers, which (for the majority of vehicles) do not change over the lifetime of the car are wrong in many cases.

If the Government can’t even manage to keep a correct database of cars, how on Earth am I expected to beleive that it can keep an accurate database of people, which will inevitably have many more variables which change more frequently?

Earlier this month, I wrote to the local council to inform them that me and my housemate were exempt from Council Tax, enclosing the relevant exemption certificates. They then wrote back, requesting my Council Tax. They had applied the certificate, which had my name, date of birth, and address on it, to the wrong account, and so had someone incorrectly registered as exempt, and me incorrectly registered as owing money. Again, this seems a relatively simple process of updating the records of the person whose details are sat in front of you, and yet the council were unable to do this.

If the Government has a proven track record of failures like these, why does anyone trust them to keep an accurate database of information as the back-end to an ID cards system? And is it not worrying that mistakes could easily be made in an apparently ‘infallable’ system, which could lead to terrible consequences for those whose details are wrong?

As I’ve said before, ID cards are unnecessary and I would’ve voted against them. But these recent developments just reminded me how dangerously fallable the system could be.