The Card That Did Nothing

A close-up photograph of a worn card showing the UK Passport Service logo in red with an arrow, text reading "An Executive Agency of the Home Office", a gold EMV chip, and the words "Demonstration Card" and "Reference Number:" printed below

A relic from the UK’s 2004 biometric identity card trial – an official demonstration card complete with chip that served no purpose beyond showing what the future might have looked like, had it ever arrived.