ID card rollout begins

[Roland Perry]

In article <F7924DF4-1352-473E-8A8F-564511472E3C@batten.eu.org>, Ian 
Batten <igb@batten.eu.org> writes

>>why wouldn't a pass   that's "good enough for GCHQ" also be "good 
>>enough for the airside   shops at Luton airport".
>
>Would a pass that's ``good enough for GCHQ'' also be ``good enough for 
>working with children?''  or ``good enough for working for FSA- 
>regulated companies?'' They're on the face of it orthogonal requirements.

Some vetting processes will automatically mop up others. eg Higher 
levels of security clearance will include terrorist and child protection 
issues (the latter because of what it says about you, rather than 
because there are vulnerable children inside GCHQ), as well an identity 
check. Or an FSA approval may imply you don't have a criminal record (as 
well as perhaps passing some sort of maths test). But I agree that 
making a matrix of this is likely to be challenging.

>> Driving licences work a bit like that; you can use them for limited 
>>periods overseas, and they allow you to drive [some] things other than 
>>what you were specifically tested on - trivially automatics if you 
>>passed on a manual, but not vice versa).
>
>But they define very closely the things you can drive as though on a 
>full license and the things you can drive as though on a provisional: 
>they don't act as a general permit to drive wheely-type things.

My original car licence also allowed me to drive "heavy locomotives" 
thru agricultural tractors to mopeds and mowing machines; even though 
I'd never driven one let alone been tested in one.

>  And  if you're outside the EU you'd be well advise to regard the 
>license  you passed your group B (group E back in the day)

In my red licence B is an automatic, E is a moped. Cars (and much else 
besides) are A.

>car driving test on  as a license to drive cars; all those other 
>extensions (B1E minibus +  trailer and so on) may not be valid.  Which 
>is the same problem we're  seeing with other documents: the semantics 
>aren't defined well enough  internationally.

Three pages of small print in my red licence is now a handful of icons 
on a plastic card. So much for being able to understand exactly what's 
allowed. (There's no icon for a moped or mowing machine, for example, 
let alone heavy locomotives).
-- 
Roland Perry