Feed Editor 15 May 2007 11:29:20 GMT http://www.ourworldoursay.org/id_card_free_zone.php http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 en http://www.ourworldoursay.org/images/rss-icon-med.gif Latest NO2ID Cards Articles In order to fake a fingerprint, one needs an original first. Latent fingerprints are nothing but fat and sweat on touched items. Thus to retrieve someone elses fingerprint (in this case the fingerprint you want to forge) one should rely on well tested forensic research methods. Which is what's to be explained here. 3 Apr 2008 16:00:42 GMT http://www.ccc.de/biometrie/fingerabdruck_kopieren.xml?language=en 6FF75410-0A18-4352-8F94-276CB2F25157 Chaos Computer Club In asking whether the government has got the business case for ID cards right, we need to understand precisely what that business case is. Plenty has been written on how the government has been changing its mind on what benefits the ID cards provide since the inception of the programme. If we look at the speech made by the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to Demos on the 6th of March 2008 giving an update on the identity card scheme, the justifications are broadly split into two areas. Firstly, there are a number of preventative measures which have been previously touted as reasons for the scheme's implementation: illegal immigration, illegal working, benefit fraud; fighting terrorism. Secondly, and what seems to be particularly emphasised this time round, is the perceived “added convenience" to the citizen. This change of tack would appear to tie in directly with the change of the roll-out plans by the government. In these revised plans only foreign nationals and those working in “sensitive" positions will, initially, be required to register. UK nationals will then be “encouraged" to register from 2010, and all new passport details entered on the National Identity Register from 2011/12. 3 Apr 2008 15:58:55 GMT http://www.itpro.co.uk/blogs/isg/2008/04/02/has-the-government-got-the-business-case-for-id-cards-right/ 9B3B8B3D-ED84-4342-93A8-F3DEFC421DEC IT Pro The government is to scrap its controversial £30 voluntary ID card system in favour of having every child born in the UK implanted at birth with a free radio frequency-based (RFID) identity marker. The plan is part of a £100bn 10-year project to put the UK at the forefront of post-internet information technology. It will lead to new grid-based network technology, new information processing and storage systems for "pervasive computing", and new massively parallel programming techniques, the government said. Children born to cabinet members from next year would be the first to receive the implants. These will guarantee their access to privileged government facilities and services. Announcing the scheme a government spokeswoman said it would return Britain to its rightful place as the world's IT technology leader, as it was during the Second World War. It had swapped many of the information theory and technology secrets developed by the code breakers at Bletchley Park for butter and guns from America, and this had let the US gain the lead, she said. 3 Apr 2008 15:57:38 GMT http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2008/04/01/230071/id-cards-scrapped-in-favour-of-rfid-implants-for-infants.htm Ian Grant CA283BA5-FFCD-4FFE-8B6A-381912020044 Computer Weekly Some day my prints will come A group of German hackers has threatened to publish Chancellor Angela Merkel's fingerprints. The move is part of a campaign against the German government's plan to stick biometric data in new passports. The Chaos Computer Club (CCC) has already published Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble's fingerprints in its magazine 3 Apr 2008 15:56:01 GMT http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/04/01/german-hackers-threaten-merkel Nick Farrell 4F6058CF-D1A7-4D57-BD40-969DF74221E4 The Inquirer Children in care should get school photos and passports, Ministers said yesterday, as they launched plans designed to give thousands of vulnerable children in care a happy and healthy childhood. Whether this will mean biometric ID cards be default for this vulnerable group remains to be seen. Biometric IDs for disabled children of those with special educational needs are often highly difficult to generate and use, for numerous complex reasons - and this area is highly sensitive. The ideas were outlined by Kevin Brennan and Beverley Hughes, as they joined the Local Government Association and Association of Directors of Children's Services to launch Care Matters: Time to Deliver, a practical guide for local partners on how to improve the lives of children in care. 3 Apr 2008 15:54:21 GMT http://rinf.com/alt-news/surveillance-big-brother/children-in-care-to-get-biometric-ids/2792/ 1E08C2B0-7AE3-43FE-94EE-92CF55EAFB03 RINF Only one in 10 adults trusts the government with their personal information, but family, banks and employers are more trusted than friends, according to a survey. The online survey of 1,048 UK adults, commissioned by Data Encryption Systems (DES), showed that three-quarters of Britons would provide contact details, date of birth, marital status, health information and children's details to anyone who asks, but only one in 10 adults trusted the government with their personal information, and even fewer (9%) would trust an online retailer. Even so, 41% said they favoured ID cards, 40% were against and 19% were undecided. Of those who were against or undecided about ID cards, 93% said it was because the government had a poor track record of looking after citizens' data. Almost as many (87%) thought the government lacked competence with personal data security, and 69% thought it had a poor regard for citizens' privacy. 3 Apr 2008 15:51:24 GMT http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2008/03/25/229967/90-of-people-dont-trust-government-with-personal-data.htm Ian Grant 8C9EBEAD-95DC-445C-B78D-D7D834B79644 Computer Weekly The growing use of biometrics to identify individuals is “insecure and in need of immediate attention," according to an IT systems company. Fujitsu Siemens said biometrics is increasingly being used in the business world to verify whether individuals really are who they say. By 2013, Fujitsu Siemens predicts biometric identity technology will be so widespread in the private sector that the number of people included would rival that of the proposed national ID schemes. Within five years, 95 percent of the UK population will be identifiable through biometrics and other means. But the tracking and monitoring of people could be a risk if security controls were not tightened up, the IT company said. From a security perspective, we have already seen that criminals can create a number of different personae for themselves and more methods of identification means more openings for them. Whether it's issued by a company or a government, once an individual can associate their biometric characteristics with an identity, they effectively own that identity," said David Pritchard, senior technology analyst. 3 Apr 2008 15:49:27 GMT http://rinf.com/alt-news/sicence-technology/firms-biometrics-records-can-be-hacked/2765/ 8CAD9F99-C3A1-4CEB-A1FB-E9C3A8A28CD5 Computerworld UK/RINF Repeated breaches of data protection laws by government departments raise huge question marks over plans for the national identity register required for ID cards and biometric passport, an influential parliamentary human rights watchdog has warned. MPs and peers on the Lords and Commons Joint Committee on Human Rights said repeated losses of personal information by departments had increased their concern, and announced they " intend to take a close interest in the government's detailed proposals for the national identity register as and when they emerge." In a hard-hitting report the committee insisted the privacy of personal data is guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights as well as the Data Protection Act. The report demands that detailed rules must in future be written in to all relevant primary legislation to “help ensure that data protection becomes a primary concern of managers and frontline staff in the public sector. 3 Apr 2008 15:48:00 GMT http://rinf.com/alt-news/surveillance-big-brother/mps-raise-fears-over-data-protection-for-id-register/2684/ EA6DCC9B-4F6F-4C4D-947A-9A7B407371CA Computing/RINF A critical report today should be the last nail in the coffin of the government's proposed ID cards, said Jenny Willott, Welsh Liberal Democrat MP for Cardiff Central. The report by the Joint Committee on Human Rights, comes as details, released through the Freedom of Information Act revealed how many of those departments lack basic systems to comply with the Data Protection Act. A survey of 14 departments by the British Computer Society published today shower that none of them had statistics of how many errors were on their database, nor had a budget to correct them. 3 Apr 2008 15:47:02 GMT http://www.newswales.co.uk/?section=Community&F=1&id=13593 6373CA10-399F-4F84-A10F-4DD359094ECF News Wales Home Office slows ID card rollout as independent Treasury study recommends fast implementation The government's failure to take on board the recommendations of independent reports on the national identity card scheme may lead to faults and extra cost, warn experts. Last week, home secretary Jacqui Smith announced plans for a slower rollout of the £5.4bn ID cards programme, with the government retaining control of the national identity register. But in a Treasury-commissioned report, also released last week, former HBOS chief executive Sir James Crosby recommends a fundamentally different, consumer-led approach. Our identity belongs to us, no one else," said Crosby. The potential of any mass ID system such as ID cards lies in the extent to which it is created, by consumers for consumers." There are many reasons why the government may have ignored the Crosby report ­ which has been delayed by almost a year and was released through the Treasury web site ­ said Eric Woods, analyst at Ovum. 3 Apr 2008 15:45:27 GMT http://www.vnunet.com/computing/news/2211892/experts-wary-id-card-plan-3889137 Tom Young 52168D5A-E037-47B4-9E2D-1BA2C4FA72DB Computing Who are the most effective campaigners against ID cards? The government of course: According to MoD figures released in a Commons written answer, 4,433 ID cards disappeared in 2006 and a further 6,812 went missing last year. Tory defence spokesman Gerald Howarth said: “This is another example of the Government's scandalous disregard for the security of our citizens and yet another reason why the public has no confidence in the Government's ID card plans for the rest of the population. Liberal Democrat defence spokesman Nick Harvey said the figures were “just extraordinary" and made a mockery of the security procedures at military facilities. “This shows the inherent frailty of ID card schemes and is yet another proof that schemes, such as the ID card database, simply won't improve our security against terrorism," he said." 3 Apr 2008 15:44:13 GMT http://www.pickledpolitics.com/archives/1772 5B16FC6A-765D-4CCB-9920-57E5E45DCAAF pickledpolitics Support for the UK's national ID card programme continues to plummet, with one quarter of people saying they are strongly opposed to the scheme. According to an ICM poll, 25 percent of those surveyed thought it was a "very bad" idea - up from 17 percent in September last year. Opponents of the ID card scheme said the survey of just over 1,000 people, commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, showed the government would be "unable to impose" the cards on the population. But, while 50 percent said the cards were a bad idea in the ICM poll, 47 percent of those questioned still thought they were a good idea. And 12 percent of that group thought they were a "very good" idea. Phil Booth, national co-ordinator with pressure group No2ID, said: "It shows that more people don't want ID cards than do, as is clearly the case across the population." 3 Apr 2008 15:42:48 GMT http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39292691,00.htm Nick Heath 9EE7A20D-0248-4ABD-A02E-0C2C807138FD silicon.com/ZDNet The pretence of oversight has been ripped aside by the Khan bugging affair: the security apparat has become a law unto itself The machine is out of control. Personal surveillance in Britain is so extensive that no democratic oversight is remotely plausible. Some 800 organisations, including the police, the revenue, local and central government, demanded (and almost always got) 253,000 intrusions on citizen privacy in the last recorded year, 2006. This is way beyond that of any other country in the free world. The Sadiq Khan affair has killed stone dead the thesis, beloved of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, that any accretion of power to the state is sustainable because ministers are in control. Whether this applies to phone tapping, bugging devices, ID cards, NHS records, childcare computer systems, video surveillance or detention without trial, it is simply a lie. Nobody can control this torrent of intrusion. Nobody can oversee a burst dam. 3 Apr 2008 15:41:26 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/feb/06/immigrationpolicy.politics Simon Jenkins 40299804-6B3D-4AF8-9C42-DF6CAB3FBC74 The Guardian The future of the UK's identity card scheme was thrown into further confusion last night after it emerged that the Home Office is looking to scrap one of its key components - a national register of fingerprints. Successive Home Office ministers have said fingerprinting will be a vital weapon in combating identity fraud and terrorism. But a confidential document produced by the Home Office Identity and Passport Service which has been obtained by The Observer states: 'We should test for each group we enrol whether the cost of fingerprints is justified by the use to which they will be put.' The implication that the scheme may prove too costly was immediately seized upon as proof of the government's waning enthusiasm. The use of iris scans has already been quietly dropped. 3 Apr 2008 15:40:25 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/jan/27/uk.humanrights Jamie Doward 1127249F-6DBE-4B3B-9175-E8079844F114 The Observer Students will be "blackmailed" into holding identity cards in order to apply for student loans, the Tories have warned. According to Home Office documents leaked to the Conservative party last night, those applying for student loans will be forced to hold identity cards to get the funding from 2010. Anyone aged 16 or over will be expected to obtain a card - costing up to £100 - to open a bank account or apply for a student loan. The document says: "We should issue ID cards to young people to assist them as they open their first bank account, take out a student loan, etc." 3 Apr 2008 15:39:38 GMT http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,2246086,00.html Anthea Lipsett 005E5F0E-F54A-4D95-A146-E86ED8F3A4BB The Guardian The rollout of compulsory national ID cards for British citizens looks likely to be delayed until after the next election, casting doubt over the future of the scheme. According to a strategy paper marked "restricted" and leaked to David Davis, the shadow home secretary, the government is planning to roll out the second phase of its ID card scheme in 2012, two years later than planned. A Home Office action plan on ID cards from two years ago set 2010 as a key milestone, when it would "issue significant volumes of ID cards alongside British passports". The setback will fuel the view among opposition politicians that the scandal surrounding the government's recent security breaches and loss of personal data could derail the ID card programme altogether. 3 Apr 2008 15:38:30 GMT http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39292351,00.htm 7D31FD19-2D36-4417-9F01-4832B6E7D86C Kablenet.com/ZDNet · PM stresses it will be for parliament to decide · He may be seeking wriggle room on issue, says Vaz Senior Labour MPs yesterday seized on comments by Gordon Brown to suggest that he intends to shelve a compulsory universal identity card scheme. They interpreted his remarks at prime minister's questions as a sign that he is cooling towards a compulsory scheme and may instead settle for a scheme that applies to foreign nationals. The prime minister's spokesman insisted that the government's policy and timetable on ID cards remained unchanged, after Brown had stressed that that it would be "for parliament to decide" on a compulsory scheme. MPs have detected a less enthusiastic tone in Brown's remarks on ID cards since the recent government data losses. 3 Apr 2008 15:36:46 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/jan/10/uk.idcards Patrick Wintour and Will Woodward BD945B53-3FC7-4F0B-9EAD-FC6769D57A3D The Guardian David Cameron has tonight written to Gordon Brown demanding clarification over whether identity cards will be compulsory. The Conservative leader stepped up pressure on the prime minister following ill-tempered exchanges between the two during parliamentary question time. As the two leaders clashed on the issue, Brown appeared to contradict himself over whether ID cards would be compulsory. In a letter to the prime minister, David Cameron has asked him to clarify his position. He writes: "Following our exchange at prime minister's questions today, I am writing to ask for an important clarification. "Anyone watching will have been left in considerable doubt about whether you personally support compulsory ID cards and will recommend this approach to the House of Commons. 3 Apr 2008 15:35:42 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/jan/09/houseofcommons.uk Deborah Summers 1B77A2EC-D337-41B7-8411-CD870360DD80 The Guardian As he looked back on a year that was going so right until it went horribly wrong, the prime minister yesterday received unsolicited advice from the new Liberal Democrat leader about how to ensure 2008 turns out more happily. Scrap ID cards, Nick Clegg urged. He objects to the cards on fundamental grounds, claiming he would rather go to jail than carry what he sees as a pernicious piece of plastic. Such talk may be grandstanding: it is doubtful that the plans would see refuseniks locked up. But it is not necessary to be a would-be outlaw or an extreme libertarian to appreciate that giving up ID cards is one new year resolution that Gordon Brown should make. As recently as autumn, the prime minister stated publicly, and with some credibility, that he could win an election on grounds of competence. A lot has happened since - the decision to duck that election, secret donations and financial chaos all helped change the mood. But Mr Brown's fall from grace was most savagely encapsulated by Mr Clegg's temporary predecessor, Vincent Cable, who in late November spoke of the PM's "remarkable transformation from Stalin to Mr Bean". The immediate issue shattering the sense of competence was the revenue's loss of the addresses and bank details of millions of parents. In the weeks that followed, it emerged the authorities had also mislaid personal information about 3 million learner drivers and hundreds of thousands of NHS patients. Against this backdrop ministers might be expected to develop an allergic reaction to new databases. Instead, they are pushing ahead with a national register linked to the cards - an unprecedentedly vast store of private information, with commensurate opportunities for blundering and fraud. 3 Apr 2008 15:34:39 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jan/01/leadersandreply.mainsection 28A95130-25CE-42C1-93F0-1324EAA2919C The Guardian I have never been convinced by Francis Bacon's aphorism: “knowledge itself is power". Presumably I am gaining more knowledge as I get older. Yet I feel more wimpish, less in charge of my own life or the lives of others, with each passing year. Are librarians powerful? Are academics? Are those minicab drivers or retired schoolteachers who always seem to do well on TV quiz shows? No, knowledge itself is not power. What helps people to acquire and retain power - whether in politics, business or personal relationships - are secrets. The powerful are paranoid about keeping their own. They are cunning about extracting other people's. And they are ruthless about using secrets thus acquired without scruple or hesitation. 3 Apr 2008 15:33:31 GMT http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/richard_morrison/article2955460.ece Richard Morrison A56DB429-2C28-4566-9AB8-AB05D1B979F7 The Times The Information Commissioner may have been publicising Friday 28th September as international Your Right To Know Day (.pdf), but another Anniverseray has now been reached: It is now over 1000 days since our original Freedom of Information Act request was submitted, initially to both the Office of Government Commerce and to the Home Office, for the to pre-Stage Zero and the actual Stage Zero Gateway review reports, on the Home Office's Identity Cards Programme. 3 Apr 2008 15:32:45 GMT http://p10.hostingprod.com/@spyblog.org.uk/blog/foia/2007/09/over_1000_days_since_the_foia_request_for_the_early_ogc_gateway_reviews_of_the.html C3CE8C96-F9E6-4D19-A27B-BB9A140B2FDF Spy Blog Gordon Brown's plans for identity cards were dealt a blow last night after leaked documents revealed the government plans to delay a national roll out of the scheme for at least two years. Despite repeated assurances that the controversial scheme is on track, Home Office documents show that the cards will only be issued to UK citizens from 2012 two years later than stated. The cards were due to be issued to people renewing their passports from 2010 under plans set out two years ago. They will not be compulsory for British citizens until 2015. The revelation from documents relating to the "delivery strategy" will prove embarrassing for the Prime Minister, whose support for them has been questioned by opponents. 23 Jan 2008 11:15:54 GMT http://news.scotsman.com/politics/39Twoyear-delay39--blow-for.3699661.jp Gerri Peev 6BD7D141-1AFB-41EA-A5DC-ED963A5056A1 The Scotsman Fresh doubts have arisen over the government's controversial identity cards programme after it emerged that Whitehall is considering a delay in the main roll-out to British citizens. The setback will fuel a growing belief among both Labour and opposition MPs that recent scandals surrounding the loss of personal data held by the government, continuing problems with IT programmes in Whitehall and doubts over the cost of the ID cards scheme itself are forcing Gordon Brown to delay or scrap it altogether. 23 Jan 2008 11:13:45 GMT http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1ceee8d4-c92b-11dc-9807-000077b07658.html Jimmy Burns 6A5C7810-14EB-48B1-BE6C-364F5B1E5547 FT.com Plans for a wider roll-out of identity cards to British nationals appear to have been delayed for two years. Foreign nationals will have ID cards this year and it was intended to introduce them in "significant volumes" for UK citizens from 2010. But documents leaked to the Tories suggest it has been put back to 2012. The Tories say the ID card scheme is "in the intensive care ward" but the government said the plan had always been to introduce them "incrementally". The timetable for ID cards to start being given to UK citizens over 16 has already slipped and the first ones are not expected to start being issued until next year. From January 2010 everyone getting a passport will have to get an identity card as well, according to existing plans. 23 Jan 2008 11:12:33 GMT http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7203740.stm 64DD45A8-EC5B-4E9E-B6C1-2AAF17A880C0 BBC The record of lost data of the past few years should be a warning to us all: our personal details are safe in nobody's hands Here's an easy question. What do the following have in common - people on housing benefit, people getting child benefit, people wanting to be RAF pilots or Royal Marines, people in hospital and people learning to drive? The answer is that they have all had their personal details lost through government incompetence. And here's another question. With the national database for ID cards looming, just how much do you trust the government to keep your identity details safe? 23 Jan 2008 11:17:03 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2244034,00.html Jackie Ashley 19F51736-812D-4B63-89F9-105B89F20C18 The Guardian · Stolen files not encrypted, Browne tells Commons · Whitehall issues staff ban on movement of data The Ministry of Defence is investigating the reported loss of 69 laptops and seven personal computers over the past year, officials revealed yesterday, as Whitehall staff were banned from removing laptops containing sensitive data from their offices. The extent of the lack of security surrounding MoD computers containing un-encrypted information emerged as Des Browne, the defence secretary, announced an inquiry into the latest theft: a laptop containing information on 600,000 people - recruits and those who had expressed an interest in joining the armed forces - which was stolen from a naval officer's car earlier this month. 23 Jan 2008 11:11:07 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/military/story/0,,2244739,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=11 Richard Norton-Taylor 7D76DC8E-A6A7-4FCF-A469-6142C3C0620D The Guardian Ten years' supply of applicants swiped from car Personal details of the 600,000 people who have applied to join the armed forces over the last ten years were stolen with an MoD laptop earlier this month, it was admitted late on Friday. The computer was stolen from the car of a junior naval officer, which was parked outside his house overnight in Edgbaston, Birmingham. It isn't yet clear whether or not the data was encrypted or the laptop password-protected, but the data is said to consist of two separate databases, one going back to the late 90s. Included are details of 150,000 serving personnel, and bank details for 3,500 of them. Aside from these, the databases include names and addresses, passport details and national insurance and NHS numbers for serving personnel and potential recruits. 23 Jan 2008 11:10:14 GMT http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/20/mod_recruits_laptop_theft/ John Lettice 06D29603-F042-4825-B4AA-DF6B213A3271 The Register Byrne's 'challenging targets' challenge belief Immigration minister Liam Byrne has concealed what looks like further ID card slippage and set himself a remarkably unchallenging series of immigration and border control targets in a "ten point plan" for 2008. Humorously described by the Home Office as "challenging", the plan consists largely of low targets, targets already achieved, and harder targets lobbed off into the middle distance. Check out the roadmap. Down at the bottom it tells us that Byrne won't start issuing immigrant ID cards until the second week in November (330 days, count them), won't start counting foreign nationals in and out of the country until the year end, and won't hit the target of processing 60 per cent of asylum claims within six months until the end of the year either. 23 Jan 2008 11:08:19 GMT http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/14/immigrant_id_slippage/ John Lettice 63F96385-8879-44C7-B7B4-EF32527526C8 The Register Americans seek international database to carry iris, palm and finger prints Senior British police officials are talking to the FBI about an international database to hunt for major criminals and terrorists. The US-initiated programme, "Server in the Sky", would take cooperation between the police forces way beyond the current faxing of fingerprints across the Atlantic. Allies in the "war against terror" - the US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand - have formed a working group, the International Information Consortium, to plan their strategy. Biometric measurements, irises or palm prints as well as fingerprints, and other personal information are likely to be exchanged across the network. One section will feature the world's most wanted suspects. The database could hold details of millions of criminals and suspects. 23 Jan 2008 11:07:19 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/humanrights/story/0,,2241005,00.html Owen Bowcott 3CF4BD5B-6471-4E13-80F7-76F71A0186AC The Guardian · PM stresses it will be for parliament to decide · He may be seeking wriggle room on issue, says Vaz Senior Labour MPs yesterday seized on comments by Gordon Brown to suggest that he intends to shelve a compulsory universal identity card scheme. They interpreted his remarks at prime minister's questions as a sign that he is cooling towards a compulsory scheme and may instead settle for a scheme that applies to foreign nationals. The prime minister's spokesman insisted that the government's policy and timetable on ID cards remained unchanged, after Brown had stressed that that it would be "for parliament to decide" on a compulsory scheme. 23 Jan 2008 11:06:18 GMT http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,2238201,00.html Patrick Wintour and Will Woodward 25EC4EE2-D421-4646-8D38-E70130104DB3 The Guardian Gordon Brown has not changed his mind on identity cards despite speculation he is preparing for a U-turn, a home office minister has told the BBC. Meg Hillier said the PM had "made it very clear" he supported the scheme. 23 Jan 2008 11:05:30 GMT http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7179238.stm 8E79B005-0BB3-4C59-A6BB-2F270DE782FE BBC David Cameron has tonight written to Gordon Brown demanding clarification over whether identity cards will be compulsory. The Conservative leader stepped up pressure on the prime minister following ill-tempered exchanges between the two during parliamentary question time. As the two leaders clashed on the issue, Brown appeared to contradict himself over whether ID cards would be compulsory. In a letter to the prime minister, David Cameron has asked him to clarify his position. 23 Jan 2008 11:04:28 GMT http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,2237858,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=11 Deborah Summers D21556FC-4665-49EA-996D-7C3FF87FF8E0 The Guardian Along with several colleagues I have been worried by the government's emphasis over the last week on biometrics as a "solution" to data breaches such as those from HM Revenue & Customs. We wrote this morning to Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights to point out these problems as follows 23 Jan 2008 11:02:54 GMT http://dooooooom.blogspot.com/2007/11/biometrics-are-not-panacea-for-data.html Dr Ian Brown 38F4B02B-5A63-4ADD-8A0A-AA098D366A2D Blogzilla Several eminent academics who do actually know about information security, cryptography, software engineering etc.. have written a letter, published by one of the signatories Dr. Ian Brown on his Blogzilla blog. 23 Jan 2008 11:02:00 GMT http://p10.hostingprod.com/@spyblog.org.uk/blog/2007/11/biometrics_labour_government_are_still_clueless_about_the_technology.html 1D322DAA-9D5C-4DDF-82F2-BBA14DF5D9E9 SpyBlog Part 2 of the edited transcript of the Observer's interview with Gordon Brown 23 Jan 2008 11:00:29 GMT http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,2236175,00.html John Mulholland and Nicholas Watt 7D2B6F00-24E6-48B9-A107-C4BE41230F92 The Observer Nick Clegg has pledged to campaign to "bring down the identity cards scheme" in the next 12 months. The new Liberal Democrat leader used his New Year message on Monday to say that his party would oppose "unwanted intrusions" in people's lives. 23 Jan 2008 10:55:47 GMT http://www.epolitix.com/EN/News/200712/4fe9a5b4-c2a4-489b-bf43-c7ac00c8508a.htm D5E865E7-6813-4DC3-80D1-A5E6202404A3 ePolitix As he looked back on a year that was going so right until it went horribly wrong, the prime minister yesterday received unsolicited advice from the new Liberal Democrat leader about how to ensure 2008 turns out more happily. Scrap ID cards, Nick Clegg urged. He objects to the cards on fundamental grounds, claiming he would rather go to jail than carry what he sees as a pernicious piece of plastic. Such talk may be grandstanding: it is doubtful that the plans would see refuseniks locked up. But it is not necessary to be a would-be outlaw or an extreme libertarian to appreciate that giving up ID cards is one new year resolution that Gordon Brown should make. 23 Jan 2008 10:55:03 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2233786,00.html 49224CF3-9A12-4F91-A53E-8CC2E64BE848 The Guardian The data crisis has taken a new twist, as nine NHS trusts admitted losing personal information of patients. Hundreds of thousands of patients could be affected, according to a newspaper report. The news comes in the wake of the loss of 25 million child benefit claimants' details on two discs belonging to HM Revenue and Customs, as well as three million motorists' details in Iowa. The Department of Health says that patients have been informed and there is no evidence that sensitive data has fallen in to the wrong hands. While the DoH has said that the data losses were being dealt with individually by the relevant trusts and that it therefore did not have details of how many patients' records were lost, one trust - City and Hackney Primary Care Trust, in east London - has reportedly lost the details of 160,000 children, according to a story in the Sunday Mirror. 23 Jan 2008 10:50:56 GMT http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/23/ndata223.xml Tom Chivers 543363B2-8931-4B72-A32E-753F2269544F The Daily Telegraph Newly elected Liberal Democrat party leader makes a few comments about the proposed ID scheme Nick Clegg MP has vowed to face court proceedings rather than register for an ID card if the government presses ahead with plans to make them compulsory. If he were elected leader of the party he would urge his fellow MPs not to co-operate and ask Liberal Democrat controlled councils to ensure no local public services require an identity card. 23 Jan 2008 10:50:03 GMT http://rinf.com/alt-news/surveillance-big-brother/video-ill-go-to-court-rather-than-have-an-id-card/2064/ E3041888-D070-4DC5-8D68-4FE4D7BE6BBC RINF.com The records of more than three million British learner drivers have gone missing from a “secure facility" in the US, an embarrassed Government admitted last night. Labour's dismal autumn hit another low as, minutes after ministers admitted that they still did not know the whereabouts of two discs holding sensitive information on 25 million people, they were forced to confess they had lost the details of all candidates for the driving theory test between 2004 and 2007. 23 Jan 2008 10:49:07 GMT http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article3065774.ece Philip Webster A226AD9F-1272-4625-B42B-5D48912D0428 The Times Liberty and the state: Ministers think good intentions are enough when it comes to civil liberties - but they're wrong. A couple of weeks ago I was discussing the government's plans to increase detention without trial with a former Labour minister. He had supported Blair's attempt to take the limit to 90 days. Politely, I suggested that if he had been so convinced of the case, without any strong arguments being made to support it, that that must have been because he had access to security information that we, the public, hadn't seen. "No, not really," he said, breezily. But, he asserted, it was just logical to suppose that there would eventually be a case where the police would need more time for their investigations, and it would be better to have the powers on the statute book before such time rather than after. 23 Jan 2008 10:47:02 GMT http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/jenni_russell/2007/12/a_couple_of_weeks_ago.html Jenni Russell 6AFD2FA5-371E-475E-B438-6EE33493B2F6 The Guardian Should I go to jail rather than carry a hated identity card - and will I be able to get myself locked up, even if I try? Those questions have been following me around ever since the “Datagate" scandal broke, with the loss of two CDs bearing our child benefits records. Until this extraordinary blunder, we were all sleepwalking into the looming disaster of ID cards and the scary database that will accompany them. The potential exposure of half the nation to fraudsters made everyone sit up and realise the far greater risk of piling far more detailed information onto the National Identity Register (NIR). 23 Jan 2008 10:44:08 GMT http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/columns/2007/12/12/a-crisis-of-identity-64375-20236801/ Rob Merrick ED846F34-A10B-49C9-9EC0-8F51E5D036F9 Liverpool Daily Post What do fighter jets, ID cards, the sale of a department of the Ministry of Defence and measles have in common? The answer is they have all been involved in scandalously poorly run, and in one case quite possibly corrupt, government deals and schemes. And while they may seem to have nothing to do with UK democracy, the level of trust the public has in government, and its' competence, certainly does. Given that this is the government who struggle to send computer discs through the mail, it is no surprise that public trust ebbs by the day. 23 Jan 2008 10:42:20 GMT http://www.ukwatch.net/article/is_technocracy_dead Ben Rymer 216DA732-B9B6-47BC-BD36-8F9542195A48 Unlock Democracy/UK Watch There needs to be serious debate about the government's controversial ID cards scheme or else it should be scrapped, according to an influential thinktank. A report from Demos stated that meaningful engagement with the public about how the technology should work must be a priority if the ID cards scheme is to go ahead. "There needs to be a serious, renewed debate about the identity cards scheme, with the kind of engagement that should have happened at the start of the process. Otherwise, the scheme should be dropped," the Demos report FYI: The new politics of personal information stated. 23 Jan 2008 10:41:24 GMT http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39291403,00.htm Steve Ranger 90E3D713-2014-4E1D-B001-FA1F3ED201D5 zdnet Sir, Meg Hillier's defence of the ID card scheme (Letters, November 29) omits crucial information. She mentions that the ID card database will hold core identity information and will not be an amalgam of all existing government data. This is true but the amount of information stored about us could grow exponentially without our necessarily knowing the plan would be to track the occasions our identity is checked on the database, giving the government access to our movements. Ms Hillier also states that the use of biometrics will secure our unique identity. This is wrong. The scheme will now use fingerprints and facial scans as the main biometric identifiers (iris scans having been dropped because of their expense) and the claim of uniqueness cannot be substantiated. 23 Jan 2008 10:40:22 GMT http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/90c08000-a2d5-11dc-81c4-0000779fd2ac.html Lynne Jones MP C3A01557-DF3C-488B-A53A-B61B38282B60 FT.com It is "truly bizarre" the loss of 25 million people's personal records has not made the government reconsider the practicalities of a nationwide identity database, the Conservative leader said today. In their weekly Commons clash, David Cameron asked Gordon Brown if the revelation Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) had compromised the security of millions of people had made him stop and think about the safety of the national ID card scheme. Mr Brown insisted ID cards would help make people feel more confident about their identity, citing the alleged benefits of biometric checks on identity. 23 Jan 2008 10:39:10 GMT http://www.politics.co.uk/News/opinion-former-index/economy-and-finance/data-loss-casts-doubt-on-id-card-plan-$481879.htm C952065C-9AEA-4EBD-BEC7-25CDF1BE200E Politics.co.uk The Government must urgently develop a better way of holding and using people's personal information, an influential report is to say. Research by the think-tank Demos warns that people are losing control of their personal data and calls on the Government to act to ensure greater protection. Its report, which is based on nine months of research, also calls for Labour's ID cards policy to be scrapped unless the public are properly consulted. 23 Jan 2008 10:38:13 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-7134390,00.html Press Association F4721EF7-88A1-4367-A3B8-BFDADAA0FFA4 The Guardian Britain's identity card scheme must be scrapped unless the public is properly consulted, a think tank-will say today. People are losing control of their personal data and the Government should act to ensure greater protection, the group warned. The recommendations by independent research institute, Demos, come weeks after HM Revenue and Customs lost a CD containing the data of 25 million Britons. 23 Jan 2008 10:36:50 GMT http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=500292&in_page_id=1770&ito=newsnow 5658ACC3-7D90-412E-8C72-780604AAB157 The Daily Mail If your bank lost your address through carelessness and penny-pinching, would you stay with them? I wouldn't. I've removed myself from mobile phone networks, email providers, academic mailing lists and online shops, all because I thought it was possible they were being a little careless with my contact details. Now imagine that a company that you knew had just lost the details of 25 million of its customers, including some who are at risk of violence because of something they'd done for you in the past, was setting up a scheme to bring all of your biometric details together every valuable confidential piece of information that identifies you as you and was going to charge you £100 to join. Want to sign up? No, me neither. 23 Jan 2008 10:35:12 GMT http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/technology/iandouglas/dec2007/id-security.htm Ian Douglas 96FC34E0-0B0D-4AA0-AFCA-AE1D54A8D7C2 The Daily Telegraph The government needs to review the scale of its plans for identity cards in the wake of the release of 25 million names and addresses on government child benefit records, the information commissioner, Richard Thomas, told the justice select committee yesterday. He claimed the government remained confused about the role of identity cards, and accused ministers of putting too much faith in the value of information sharing. Thomas said: "Any massive collection of information like the identity card carries risk ... We still have some uncertainties about what the primary purpose of the identity card is ... Is it to improve policing, to fight terrorism, to improve public services, to avoid identity theft? I think there is a lot of thinking still to be done on its primary purpose." 5 Dec 2007 10:24:15 GMT http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,2222072,00.html Patrick Wintour C69EE700-329B-4223-8CE9-FD373DAE29E7 The Guardian Time to cut off IPS' air supply... No2ID has launched a new campaign of civil disobedience* against ID cards, as a new poll shows that for the first time, opponents of the cards outnumber supporters. The poll - carried out by YouGov for the Daily Telegraph, shows 48 per cent against versus 43 per cent for. The poll turnaround bears out a long-standing prediction by Simon Davies of Privacy International, who for some years has insisted that UK public opinion on ID cards would follow the same pattern as was the case in Australia. There, early support turned into hostility as the public learned more and more about the cards. Here, a 2003 YouGov poll showed 78 per cent for and 15 per cent against, with this falling to 45 per cent pro and 42 per cent against shortly after the July 2005 bombings. Subsequent movement likely has something to do with the Government's less-than-glorious recent record of protecting ID data, and as there seems a never-ending supply of bad news in that area, the numbers can surely only get worse for the Government. 5 Dec 2007 10:23:20 GMT http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/03/no2id_non_coop_pledge/ John Lettice A797926F-61A1-4BE8-A585-C9B354849259 The Register More people now oppose Labour's proposed ID cards than support them, a poll for The Daily Telegraph has found. Just 43 per cent of those questioned said they favoured the introduction of a national identity scheme compared with 48 per cent who were against. It is the first time YouGov has found more against than in favour. When the ID scheme was first proposed by the Government in 2003, YouGov found 78 per cent supported it and just 15 per cent were opposed. Since then, there has been a gradual erosion in support for ID cards and the recent loss of the country's entire child benefit records on two CDs seems to have tipped the balance. Yesterday, it emerged that the Department of Work and Pensions let a contractor keep two discs with thousands of benefit claimants' details for more than a year. 5 Dec 2007 10:16:09 GMT http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/03/nidcards103.xml#form Philip Johnston D579FF53-B402-4910-8749-97C71B4C2057 The Daily Telegraph Security breaches that are allowing the financial details of tens of thousands of Britons to be sold on the internet are to be investigated by the country's information watchdog. Without paying a single penny, The Times downloaded banking information belonging to 32 people, including a High Court deputy judge and a managing director. The private account numbers, PINs and security codes were offered as tasters by illegal hacking sites in the hope that purchases would follow. 5 Dec 2007 10:15:19 GMT http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2988471.ece Alexi Mostrous and Dominic Kennedy 8378B51C-C4A2-4107-BB66-553C707C1F8A The Times The Information Commissioners' in-tray got a little bigger today as it confirmed it would be investigating a series of ID trading sites unearthed by journalists. The Times screamed today that "the financial details of tens of thousands of Britons" were being sold on the internet. The paper detailed how it had been able to download banking information for 32 people, including account numbers, PINS, and security codes, "without spending a single penny". The data, including that of a deputy judge, was apparently offered as a free taster by the ID traders. It's no secret that personal details are being traded online, although the fact that criminals are now offering free samples is a new wrinkle. 5 Dec 2007 10:14:18 GMT http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/03/id_trading/ Joe Fay 863D622D-44E4-461E-9705-B604F6017CE7 The Register The suggestion by James Hall that Project Stork (Letters, November 29) has nothing to do with the national identity scheme is risible. The roadmap for the project was presented on June 13 at this year's European e-identity conference in Paris. Frank Leyman, manager for international relations at FEDICT (the Belgian public service responsible for e-government), described the project thus: "Implementation of an EU-wide interoperable system for recognition of electronic identification and authentication that will enable businesses, citizens and government employees to use their national electronic identities in any member state." 5 Dec 2007 10:12:51 GMT http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/letters/display.var.1870534.0.0.php Geraint Bevan DAE6FE31-6EAF-402F-AE80-53CF3FE9EC81 The Herald A growing scandal over the government's loss of the personal data of 25 million British people last week could carry unexpected consequences, according to a poll by Populus published in The Times. 55 per cent of respondents think the incident proves the government would be unable to handle the introduction of smart identification cards and should abandon plans to do so. 5 Dec 2007 10:11:20 GMT http://rinf.com/alt-news/surveillance-big-brother/britons-reject-id-cards-after-missing-data-scandal/1873/ Angus Reid 8BEB68F7-4C7D-4749-9C0B-86D9C6CB56DA RNIF/Global Monitor ID cards, government procedure and politicians' capability with technology are all called into question in House of Commons debate. The identity card scheme, departmental processes and politicians truthfulness and ability to handle technology were all under discussion at a lengthy debate about data security among MPs at the House of Commons yesterday. The debate was sparked by the massive data leak from HM Revenue and Customs, admitted by the government last week in a speech to the commons by Chancellor Alistair Darling. 5 Dec 2007 10:10:13 GMT http://www.itpro.co.uk/news/142902/politicians-honesty-ability-questioned-in-data-debate.html Nicole Kobie 2CA6AE98-B473-450B-8824-00F30CAB2E54 IT Pro News emerged yesterday of a mysterious international ID card plan, described by the Tories as "a European-wide identity card project called Project Stork". The Conservatives suggested in Parliament that Stork was a huge Europe-wide extension to the planned UK National ID card with its associated databases and biometrics. "How," asked the shadow Home Sec David Davis, did the government intend to "prevent a repetition of the disaster of the past few weeks when sensitive personal data are held not by one Government but by 27?" The actual Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, seemed a trifle puzzled about what exactly Stork might be 5 Dec 2007 10:09:07 GMT http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/28/stork_id_fracas/ Lewis Page 94279DCA-CC36-47B9-87A8-1DDCA660FBC2 The Register PDF - Towards a Pan-European eID identification system 5 Dec 2007 10:07:33 GMT http://www.enisa.europa.eu/doc/pdf/Workshop/June2007/Presentations/auth_LeymanFrank_%20STORK%2013062007.pdf 22CEECE1-CEE1-4DFC-A686-72C5E0DF3B77 The government's controversial plans for ID cards will be reviewed in the light of the loss of 25 million people's personal data. Data protection minister Michael Wills told MPs and Lords it was inevitable the government would have to review plans for a nationwide identity database. He was reporting to the parliamentary committee on human rights a week after it emerged HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has lost two computer discs containing personal information of child benefit claimants. Mr Wills told the committee: "We are going to obviously have to look at the national identity register in the light of all this. "We are going to have to learn the lessons. Everything will have to be scrutinised and then we will assess it again." However, he denied the data breach meant the government would be forced to abandon the ID card scheme, which is opposed by both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. 5 Dec 2007 10:06:41 GMT http://www.politics.co.uk/News/opinion-former-index/legal-and-constitutional/govt-look-again-at-id-cards-in-wake-hmrc-loss-$482139.htm 2F64AE3C-7863-40C0-8D97-D874F427781E Politics.co.uk A Conservative MP has claimed the government's ID cards strategy will not protect the UK from terrorists Speaking in the Commons on 26 November 2007, Tory MP Patrick Mercer said that those who were resident in the country for three months or less would not be required to carry an identity card. While interrogating borders and immigration minister Liam Byrne, Mercer said: "A cursory understanding of the core Al Qaeda group makes it quite clear that its visits to countries such as ours will last a lot less than three months. Does that not drive a coach and horses through the whole concept of ID cards?" 5 Dec 2007 10:05:35 GMT http://www.kablenet.com/kd.nsf/Frontpage/973C2D0AFD7E10A8802573A000421040?OpenDocument 00F0DB57-D61E-4234-ACC5-BF6C45924C9C kablenet I have never been convinced by Francis Bacon's aphorism: “knowledge itself is power". Presumably I am gaining more knowledge as I get older. Yet I feel more wimpish, less in charge of my own life or the lives of others, with each passing year. Are librarians powerful? Are academics? Are those minicab drivers or retired schoolteachers who always seem to do well on TV quiz shows? No, knowledge itself is not power. What helps people to acquire and retain power - whether in politics, business or personal relationships - are secrets. The powerful are paranoid about keeping their own. They are cunning about extracting other people's. And they are ruthless about using secrets thus acquired without scruple or hesitation. 5 Dec 2007 10:04:48 GMT http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/richard_morrison/article2955460.ece Richard Morrison 2F51E6F0-5714-4935-9798-F7E6EE92B598 The Times The Government was accused of a fresh security blunder yesterday after Britain's top taxman sent millions of parents an apology letter containing sensitive personal data. Anti-fraud experts and police urged people to destroy the letters, which contain each claimants' name, address, national insurance and child benefit numbers. Criminals use such information to open bank accounts, claim benefits and apply for passports. Nigel Evans MP, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Identity Fraud, said that the taxman's latest error would come like an early Christmas present to conmen. 5 Dec 2007 09:36:04 GMT http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2958046.ece?EMC-Bltn=LNW9I4 Dominic Kennedy 602367D1-F068-4CFD-BD2D-201172184742 The Times Last week's loss of confidential child benefit records has been a wake-up call to 25 million people about the reality of the government's handling of our personal information. But few realise the extent of what lies ahead. The Identity Cards Act, which slipped, barely noted, on to the statute books in 2006, is the jewel in the crown of a wholesale and well-advanced government commitment to "share" data about each of us between departments on an unprecedented scale. Already some 265 government departments are data-sharing. Electronic identity management in the UK is deeply entrenched in government policy, and yet no one can guarantee that such a data-sharing system can be secure. All we can do is hand over our information, cross our fingers, and hope that it won't happen to us. 5 Dec 2007 09:34:55 GMT http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour/comment/0,,2217557,00.html Christina Zaba 2B493406-8FA2-4C9F-A7F6-C015EEC1AB7F The Guardian The proposed national identity register - the heart of the Government's identity card scheme is to be reassessed in light of the recent data loss at HM Revenue & Customs. Michael Wills, the data protection minister, said that the loss of CDs containing the details of 25 million people would have implications for the register. We are going to have to learn the lessons, he told the joint Lords and Commons human rights committee. Everything will have to be scrutinised and then we will assess it again. 5 Dec 2007 09:33:43 GMT http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article2951709.ece Richard Ford 94496A6F-8A11-479D-8C29-524BD5EB87E3 The Times The Conservative leader has warned of the dangers to data security posed by the national identity card scheme David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party, called on prime minister Gordon Brown to re-think his plans for a national identity register, following the "appalling blunder" which led to the huge loss of child benefit data from HM Revenue and Customs. He said that the public "will find it truly bizarre - they will find it weird - that the prime minister does not stop and think about the dangers of a National Identity Register" 5 Dec 2007 09:32:45 GMT http://www.kablenet.com/kd.nsf/Frontpage/4B2F6469691D27628025739B003D5EF0?OpenDocument A5E219EE-D7FA-496D-AB2F-E80A7A67B06B kablenet A biometric security firm is pitching a national identity scheme designed to allay fears caused by the government holding and trying to manage a national identity base. The biometric smartcard system proposed by UK Biometrics is being promoted as the government tries to address the outcry caused by HMRC losing the child benefit records of 25m people. The plan would be to store everybody's biometric data on any smart card chip, currently embedded in credit cards. For those people who do not carry credit cards, a dedicated smart card would cost about £5 - much cheaper than the estimated cost of the current national identity card scheme, said the firm When required by police or authorities to positively identify themselves, the card holder would slot their smart card into a hand-held biometric scanner, place their fingertip onto the reader and have their identity confirmed. 5 Dec 2007 09:30:36 GMT http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2007/11/26/228309/government-offered-alternative-national-id-scheme-that-doesnt-require-national.htm Antony Savvas DF6437FE-90B8-4293-B18B-61DBE5AD38C4 Computer Weekly Following the loss of 25m records ID card alternatives are coming to the fore Since HMRC lost 25 million records, public trust in the government's introduction of ID cards is fading and alternative schemes are growing in appeal. UK Biometrics Ltd has proposed a scheme where an individual's biometric data would be stored on their smart card chips in their credit cards, and there would be no need for a centralised national identity database. When required by police or authorities to positively identify themselves the card holder would slot their smart card into a hand held biometric scanner, place their fingertip onto the reader and have their identity confirmed," said the firm. The solution would help eliminate fraud as well as giving the ownership of data to the individual. 5 Dec 2007 08:56:21 GMT http://www.itweek.co.uk/itweek/news/2204288/alternatives-id-cards-put Rosalie Marshall F2DE0ED2-79FE-442C-9EC0-05347AD875CD IT Week Dis-information systems management Comment: When it comes to talking about last week's data loss by the HMRC, I was told not to use precious words outlining my feelings of rage and bafflement that a government body can be so cavalier with so much data because, presumably, we all feel the same. So I will simply note, for the record, that my gob has been totally smacked by this debacle. What I will do is to take a look at the technical elements of this case from the database/data perspective. 4 Dec 2007 20:18:56 GMT http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/25/tech_view_of_data_blunder/ Mark Whitehorn 801D5BCC-60B7-49BF-803E-516B9C0667E6 The Register Ministers will quickly lose their shame over the missing 25 million files and continue to stockpile our most personal secrets There's no time to crow over the government's loss of 25 million people's details; no time to rejoice at the obvious mortification of Gordon Brown, Alistair Darling, his sidekick, Andy Burnham, Jacqui Smith and Harriet Harman. These people will not be deterred by the calamity of last week. They are shameless. In a month or two they will bounce back. The ID card scheme will be relaunched and Jacqui Smith will continue with her plans to demand 53 pieces of information from people before they travel abroad. The Children's Index, the Children's Assessment Framework, the National Health database, the ever-expanding police DNA database will all continue to scoop up information. Why? Because the control of the masses is coded in the deepest part of Labour's being. 4 Dec 2007 20:17:23 GMT http://politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2216768,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=19 Henry Porter C407F62D-3E04-4A72-B9BD-B8D756614508 The Observer Sometimes just throwing a few long words about can make people think you know what you're talking about. Words like "biometric". When Alistair Darling was asked if the government will ditch ID cards in the light of this week's data cock-up, he replied: "The key thing about identity cards is, of course, that information is protected by personal biometric information. The problem at present is that, because we do not have that protection, information is much more vulnerable than it should be." Yes, that's the problem. We need biometric identification. Fingerprints. Iris scans. Gordon Brown says so too: "What we must ensure is that identity fraud is avoided, and the way to avoid identity fraud is to say that for passport information we will have the biometric support that is necessary." Tsutomu Matsumoto is a Japanese mathematician, a cryptographer who works on security, and he decided to see if he could fool the machines which identify you by your fingerprint. This home science project costs about £20. Take a finger and make a cast with the moulding plastic sold in hobby shops. Then pour some liquid gelatin (ordinary food gelatin) into that mould and let it harden. Stick this over your finger pad: it fools fingerprint detectors about 80% of the time. The joy is, once you've fooled the machine, your fake fingerprint is made of the same stuff as fruit pastilles, so you can simply eat the evidence. 4 Dec 2007 20:15:54 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/nov/24/idcards.homeaffairs Ben Goldacre 93DD2639-70E6-4724-BF2C-B9C1E1CF1C9A The Guardian Gordon Brown has told us a national identity card scheme would make people feel safer. The reverse is true. The catastrophic loss of the personal and financial details of 25m people by HM Revenue & Customs has made people uneasy about handing yet more data to the government. The prime minister should think again: the gross mishandling of child-benefit data should be the final nail in the coffin of this deeply flawed scheme. After a protracted battle in parliament, a bill giving the government powers to issue ID cards received royal assent last year. Contracts for the scheme went out to tender in the summer and the first cards will be issued to UK residents in 2009. Registration for the scheme will be compulsory. But people will not, for now, be required to carry the cards. 4 Dec 2007 20:15:17 GMT http://www.ft.com/cms/s/f403aed6-99f6-11dc-ad70-0000779fd2ac,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2Ff403aed6-99f6-11dc-ad70-0000779fd2ac.html%3Fnclick_check%3D1&_i_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fdel.icio.us%2Frandomattention%2FID&nclick_check=1 36F459CC-9458-49F9-97DA-55CE89BE65C5 FT A big week for news, this, as the story breaks that the Government has just lost detailed records belonging to half the UK's population. Security cannot help but be one of the recurring themes here and in most places in the IT industry. It was once a bolt-on but now it's at the stage where it's embedded in everything the industry does. Without that vital security tick on the checklist, vendors can't sell it. Things clearly move differently in Government. Or do they? It's hard to tell from the outside as the Government's mechanisms are shrouded in secrecy -- even though it's our data that its civil servants are handling. What seems to have happened is that a relatively junior individual needed to transport the entire child benefit database from Washington in the north-east to London. He or she burned the database onto two CDs, hired TNT to send a bike and shipped it to the smoke. Only it didn't arrive. 4 Dec 2007 20:13:29 GMT http://www.newswireless.net/index.cfm/article/3662 Manek Dubash 2A747302-DC13-4847-9BC3-BB784E0D4045 newswireless.net The government has defended security measures for its £5.6bn ID cards scheme in the wake of the data loss crisis at HM Revenue and Customs. HMRC admitted that records of 25 million people - including bank details, addresses and other confidential information - were on computer disks lost in transit to the National Audit Office. The loss - Britain's biggest security breach - was seized upon by opponents of the ID card scheme. They said the government must think again about the ID card programme and its underlying national identity register in the light of the HMRC debacle. 4 Dec 2007 20:12:05 GMT http://www.computerworlduk.com/management/government-law/public-sector/news/index.cfm?newsid=6328 Tash Shifrin 282E72EA-9F39-4102-A0B0-4CF4C0A7445A Computer World UK The HMRC incident may harm the ID cards proposals because the government's perceived inability to safeguard sensitive data is likely to further damage confidence in the already controversial scheme. Shadow chancellor George Osborne was quick to use the incident to fuel opposition to the project. “Does [Alistair Darling] agree that today must mark the final blow to the government's ambition to create a national ID card? They simply cannot be trusted with people's personal information, he said. 4 Dec 2007 20:11:00 GMT http://www.vnunet.com/itweek/news/2204127/hmrc-scandal-hit-id-card-plans David Neal 854D0D59-5DDE-492A-999C-948E14480920 IT Week The creation of a giant register of every card-carrying member of the British public was always one of the more controversial elements of the ID cards proposal. The missing data crisis could not have provided a more spectacular example of what might happen if such databases are not secure. It has sparked widespread fears over the security of personal information and raised the inevitable demands for the entire ID card scheme to be abandoned - with signs the government may now be having second thoughts. 4 Dec 2007 20:10:08 GMT http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7107617.stm Nick Assinder D0D14696-4A42-4571-B5B2-07C7CC8CA978 BBC HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officials were warned to ensure CDs containing benefit details of 25 million people were delivered "as safely as possible". The warning from a National Audit Office (NAO) official was sent 16 days before the information went missing. It is one of a string of e-mails released by ministers as they seek to prove top officials did not sanction the sending of sensitive data. Another e-mail reveals concerns about the cost of removing bank details. 4 Dec 2007 20:09:00 GMT http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7106987.stm 4B0A30EB-F482-4FA9-9AA6-7DA2A291A00F BBC Gordon Brown got it partly right when he faced the Commons yesterday to explain the loss of 25 million child benefit records. He was suitably contrite over the way his Government had, in David Cameron's words, "failed in its first duty - to protect the public". The Prime Minister made no attempt to play down the scale of the fiasco and revealed that he had asked the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell, to lead a review of the way every Whitehall department handles sensitive data. It is a pity the Prime Minister then felt the need to indulge in partisan politicking by quoting dusty Tory proposals to cut even more jobs at HM Revenue and Customs. He misjudged the mood of both the House and the country. Away from the Commons knockabout, what remains most worrying is the Government's refusal to accept that this blunder should sound the knell for ill-begotten plans for compulsory ID cards. 22 Nov 2007 13:44:31 GMT http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/11/22/dl2201.xml 67958C98-FB09-4652-A249-70484587E263 The Daily Telegraph At least two more discs containing data that could put people at risk of ID fraud have been lost by Revenue and Customs, it has been revealed. Staff at the tax offices in Washington, Tyne and Wear, said they sent more two unencrypted discs to London but they are unaccounted for. The discs contained national insurance numbers and dates of birth but unlike the previous two, which were lost from the same office, did not contain bank account details. 22 Nov 2007 13:42:41 GMT http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23422087-details/Ministry+of+Mayhem+as+officials+make+2%2C000+security+blunders+in+12+months/article.do?ito=newsnow& CAAD6166-4A5D-4389-A775-E23BABBA2176 This Is London.co.uk - Gordon Brown apologises unreservedly for blunders - Labour MPs call for scheme to be put on hold Ministers are to look at scaling back plans for identity cards in response to the catastrophic loss of the personal information of 25 million people, including their bank records and addresses. The information commissioner, Richard Thomas, urged ministers yesterday to review the amount of data they intend to amass on the national identity register, and Labour backbenchers previously supportive of ID cards backed his view 22 Nov 2007 13:37:53 GMT http://politics.guardian.co.uk/economics/story/0,,2215082,00.html Patrick Wintour and Will Woodward 830E479A-0F43-4637-9952-4CDA5B073603 The Guardian The future of Labour's identity card project was increasingly in doubt yesterday as MPs called for the scheme to be scrapped following the loss of the child benefit records. Even Labour MPs were questioning how Gordon Brown could proceed with the multi-billion pound scheme. John McDonnell, MP for Hayes and Harlington, said: "This has demonstrated that the ID card scheme is unworkable. It will be a ghastly, expensive mess. The Government must now drop the whole idea." 22 Nov 2007 13:33:17 GMT http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/22/ncustoms822.xml Philip Johnston 220A2922-2FE4-4812-AA0D-0537C425497E The Daily Telegraph If this Government is incompetent enough to lose millions of personal details, is it safe with anything? Idiots. Utter, unbelievable, jaw-dropping, unpardonable idiots. It is beyond farce, past comprehension, criminally irresponsible and beneath contempt. All those lectures from government and authorities about keeping our personal data safe; every statement ever made about the security of the proposed NHS database of everybody's personal medical records; each claim that the Children's Database containing all their personal details will somehow make our kids safer; and of course each and every promise about the safety of the national identity register exposed as quite, quite worthless. Because as soon as you put it on a computer, a bloke in an office can download it and stick it in an envelope and send your most personal details and mine and our children's across the country with a dodgy courier. 22 Nov 2007 13:31:36 GMT http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/alice_miles/article2910272.ece?ILC-EVYcomments&ATTR=AMblue Alice Miles D10D990D-9726-4473-B346-E7C0CA2C7F20 The Times What to do if you are one of 7 million families involved Who is affected? Everyone in the UK who has received child benefit, and every child who is eligible for the payments, is listed on a database on the discs. In other words, every child under the age of 16, as well as their parents and guardians. The breach affects 25 million people and more than 7 million families. 22 Nov 2007 13:29:51 GMT http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,2214515,00.html Bobbie Johnson D0A30201-9919-428A-A6E5-238FC916CCFA The Guardian Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he "profoundly regrets" the loss of 25 million child benefit records. He apologised in the Commons for the "inconvenience and worries" caused and said the government was working to prevent the data being used for fraud. But Conservative leader David Cameron said the government had "failed in its first duty to protect the public". The Revenue and Customs data on the two missing discs includes names, dates of birth, bank and address details. 22 Nov 2007 13:28:55 GMT http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7104945.stm 46FDA238-C572-460D-9248-753A408B2F86 BBC The government's loss of 25 million records was the result of crime said FBI fraud expert and world-renowned ex-con artist Frank Abagnale. He added that the loss was evidence that the government can not be trusted with biometric information, and that the proposed national ID scheme was untenable. 22 Nov 2007 13:26:41 GMT http://www.techworld.com/security/news/index.cfm?newsID=10719&pagtype=samechan Siobhan Chapman 94F264E1-9743-469B-9527-C3A8BFA94313 Computerworld UK Millions of British families have been warned to watch their bank accounts for suspicious transactions after the government admitted it had lost child benefit details of 25m people in Europe's biggest loss of confidential personal information. Details of the breach led to the resignation of Paul Gray, chairman of the HM Revenue and Customs, and could also create fresh problems for the government's plans for a national identity card supported by a database. Yesterday George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, said the incident would be the "final blow" in destroying the government's plans to set up a national identity card scheme since nobody would trust the government to store sensitive personal data any more. As banks were placed on alert for widespread fraud, Alistair Darling, the chancellor, promised them that the government would refund any losses, potentially exposing the taxpayer to fresh liabilities for months or even years. 22 Nov 2007 13:23:51 GMT http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/591cf040-97d4-11dc-9e08-0000779fd2ac.html George Parker, Jimmy Burns and Alex Barker 105BA095-F5CB-4DA5-97CA-A9720C4485A4 FT.com The shadow chancellor, George Osborne, attacked the government on Tuesday following its disclosure of the loss of the details of 25 million child-benefit claimants, and called into question its competence to safeguard data collected for the controversial national ID cards scheme. "This will be the final blow for the ambitions of the government for the national ID cards scheme - they simply cannot be trusted with people's personal details," Osborne said. "Never mind the lack of vision - get a grip and deliver a basic level of competence." Two password-protected discs, containing the names, addresses, dates of birth, national insurance numbers and bank and building society account details of everybody in the UK who claims and receives child benefits, were lost in transit from Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to the National Audit Office (NAO). The courier was TNT. 22 Nov 2007 13:22:58 GMT http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39290953,00.htm?r=24 Tom Espiner 9899509D-9BB7-48EC-9914-EFAE18D7C194 ZDNet.co.uk The sensitive personal details of 25 million Britons could have fallen into the hands of identity fraudsters after a government agency lost the entire child benefit database in the post. A major police investigation is being conducted after Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, admitted yesterday that names, addresses, birth dates, national insurance numbers and bank account details of every child benefit claimant in the country had gone missing. The confidential material is on two CDs that were placed in the post by a junior employee at the HM Revenue & Customs office in Tyne & Wear more than a month ago and have not been seen since. 22 Nov 2007 13:19:48 GMT http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2910705.ece?EMC-Bltn=ILU9H4 Philip Webster, Sean O'Neill and Rhys Blakely E6313BCF-B7F3-40D2-BAC2-98835770BCC5 The Times House of Lords looks at data protection The House of Lords constitution committee has been presented with a list of government policies that the Information Commissioner says pose a threat to data protection rights in the UK. Information Commissioner Richard Thomas said the national identity database that will underpin the controversial ID cards plan is "an area of particular concern". He also warned about the impact of the e-borders passenger checking policy, the full electronic health records being rolled out as part of the NHS's £12.4bn computer overhaul and plans to share road-charging data with police. 22 Nov 2007 13:18:20 GMT http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=11382 Tash Shifrin 34A459A5-BBB7-4706-B46D-200CF2563BB8 Computerworld UK This is for everyone who thinks fingerprints cannot be reverse engineered from biometric systems, and especially for Jim Knight MP, the Labour Minister for Schools and Learners, who offered up the below incorrect information in a parliamentary debate in July this year with Greg Mulholland MP: 22 Nov 2007 13:17:01 GMT http://rinf.com/alt-news/surveillance-big-brother/reconstructing-fingerprint-images-from-templates/1792/ EC5DF623-7333-44B8-A852-22BF2A5EE0AA RINF Standard ID card for non-EU residents is planned for all member states Biometric ID cards could be adopted throughout the European Union (EU) by 2010 if a proposed regulation goes ahead. The regulation, scheduled for adoption before the end of this year, will introduce a standard version of the resident permit that all 27 member states issue to nationals from outside the EU. The aim is to make it easier to verify that someone is entitled to residence. The new permit will be in the form of a smart card that stores, in encrypted form, two biometric identifiers: a facial image and two fingerprints. The technical specification is due to be published by 2008, and the new European resident permit will be rolled out within two years after that. 22 Nov 2007 13:15:50 GMT http://www.itweek.co.uk/itweek/news/2203773/biometric-id-cards-planned Kim Thomas 5B33AA7D-CA1D-4739-9314-CE4FE37F6C88 IT Week The Home Office will call for bids for the first two pieces of work on the National Identity Scheme in May 2008. The call for tenders for a biometric database and the application and enrolment operation will be issued as soon as the government finalises the participants in its framework procurement agreement, which is expected by May, a Home Office spokesman said. On 19 October, the Identity and Passport Service shortlisted eight firms for a framework agreement to supply the National Identity Scheme infrastructure: Accenture, BAE Systems, Computer Sciences Corporation, EDS, Fujitsu, IBM, Steria and Thales. The Home Office said it might trim this list in ­December. 22 Nov 2007 13:14:34 GMT http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2007/11/19/228166/government-will-invite-id-system-bids-in-may.htm Ian Grant 748E66E1-8B49-41EB-A7BC-1C7C21657282 Computer Weekly This is the Ulster woman likely to lead the Government's controversial multi-billion pound ID card scheme. Eithne Wallis is a senior executive with Japanese computer giant Fujitsu and is leading the company's bid to land the lucrative contract. The Dungannon-born wife of ex-Government adviser Lord Birt (the couple were married last year) is the former head of the National Probation Service, but left the Civil Service almost three years ago to take up a six-figure salary with Fujitsu. The one-time Dungannon High School head girl - now dubbed Lady Dalek after the unflattering description of her husband by playwright Dennis Potter - has since taken the role of the company's director of Government contracts. 22 Nov 2007 13:13:00 GMT http://www.sundaylife.co.uk/news/article3172240.ece D409E65C-4D9E-42C0-9E39-72DDB30FA94D Belfast Telegraph Expectations that Gordon Brown would personalise the case for national identity cards to make them more palatable to the British public have been shelved. Tabloid newspapers report the prime minister plans to abandon the controversial scheme entirely over fears it would be challenged in the UK and European courts. But unnamed sources close to the PM said The Sunday Mirror's claim he wants to axe the biometric scheme was “garbage," The Guardian reported yesterday. The left-leaning paper did however claim Mr Brown has fresh concerns over the £5.3bn programme: at their core, is the IT proposed to implement and maintain it. 22 Nov 2007 13:10:36 GMT http://www.contractoruk.com/news/003525.html BDDD2CFC-332B-4EAE-9B55-2A3AC91E819C Contractor UK 'Computer giga-terror' threat explained The Liberal Democrat party has attacked the proposed National ID card scheme, on the grounds that the government cannot effectively implement simpler plans such as passport interviews. But the new government security minister has mounted a spirited defence. "The Government has made a total mess of introducing interviews for first-time passport applicants," said Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrats' home affairs spokesman. "The project has gone over-time, over-budget and still isn't working properly." 22 Nov 2007 13:07:01 GMT http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/05/lib_dems_n_admiral_lord_west_on_security_terror/ Lewis Page 4090FDAE-8B55-4A77-8D06-827F1F474B86 The Register Gordon Brown has demanded a review of the technology behind the proposed new ID cards, the Guardian has learned. The prime minister is understood to have expressed concern that the huge new project - the biggest since the introduction of a computerised national patients system - does not prove to be another IT fiasco. Ministers have fought in the courts and in information tribunals any move to disclose existing assessments by Whitehall of the viability of ID cards in the Gateway Reviews by the Treasury's Office of Government Commerce. The reviews, thought to have been highly critical, were never published. 22 Nov 2007 13:03:46 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/idcards/story/0,,2205324,00.html David Hencke BAADB361-D5FE-4662-A680-0901EA3B3316 The Guardian The government's identity cards scheme may be delayed after another reported review. The Guardian newspaper claims Gordon Brown's concerns about the risks of technological failure could lead to a delay in the controversial initiative's rollout. Following heavy criticisms surrounding the recent IT upgrades within the NHS, Mr Brown is reportedly concerned that all technological components of the ID card scheme are working prior to its introduction. 22 Nov 2007 13:02:31 GMT http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/health/politics/id-review-on-cards-$1161469.htm 8AAC8E76-CBD9-40D4-B2DA-B9548B2E3E7F www.inthenews.co.uk Amid growing concerns over online privacy, the European Commission is looking to the IT sector to develop privacy enhancing technologies or Pets, which give users control over how their data is used. Examples include Encrypted biometric access systems that allow the use of a fingerprint to authenticate an individual's identity, but do not retain the actual fingerprint "Sticky" electronic privacy policies that are attached to the information itself to stop it being used in any way that is not compatible with that policy Software that allows browsers to detect automatically the privacy policy of websites and compares it to the preferences expressed by the user, highlighting any clashes. 22 Nov 2007 12:46:25 GMT http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2007/11/14/228082/european-commission-pushes-for-privacy-tools-for-users.htm Ian Grant 50911381-8396-495F-AF30-9A70640E7FD9 Computer Weekly A Liberal Dem peer vows that she would rather go to prison than carry an ID card. The law may hold her to it From 2010, all UK passport applicants will be issued with biometric ID cards. Baroness Williams, the Liberal Democrat peer, recently said that as the cards would seriously undermine individual liberty, people were entitled to peacefully refuse to co-operate. She said she would rather go to prison than carry an ID card. 22 Nov 2007 12:45:05 GMT http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/columnists/gary_slapper/article2865460.ece Gary Slapper 3AB42A27-9763-4747-A9DD-0166A364E99A The Times A campaign group against the implementation of UK-wide identity cards has said that the real cost of the scheme is yet to be seen. Following the six-monthly cost report announced by the Home Office, NO2ID said many factors point to a budget which is likely to be overrun. August saw the official procurement process for the National Identity Scheme (NIS) begin, with minister Meg Hillier stating that the system will be introduced securely to minimise cost and risk. However, NO2ID's national coordinator Phil Booth said this week that the Home Office is "keeping billions off the true cost of the scheme" and he also described the budget as "conveniently sliding". 22 Nov 2007 12:43:35 GMT http://www.mikrofax.com/news/Campaign-group-says-ID-cards-will-run-over-budget/430021576/18351613.html E12E0F9D-F67E-496D-BB63-B818D285390A mikrofax.com Like most readers of this newspaper, I consider myself to be a law-abiding citizen who invariably accepts a decision of Parliament as the law of the land, however barmy or against my personal interests, because it has been democratically arrived at. But there are two matters on which I would be ready to take a stand and accept the consequences. The first is that I will refuse to register on the Government's ID card database. The second is that I will withhold part of my taxes if Parliament agrees to finance political parties out of state funds. 22 Nov 2007 12:40:48 GMT http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/11/12/do1202.xml Philip Johnston 60C22BDD-8009-48E6-B3BB-47A42A3176D1 The Daily Telegraph The introduction of identity cards and biometric passports has been denounced as "a vast waste of taxpayers' money" after the release of a Government estimate putting the cost of the scheme at more than £5.6 billion over the next 10 years. Campaigners against ID cards warned that the bill could rise further, after the Home Office's Identity and Passport Service acknowledged there were "uncertainties" about the cost and a "significant probability" that its estimates would change as the massive project progressed. Liberal Democrats called on the Government to scrap ID cards and spend the money instead on additional police. "It is becoming more and more clear that identity cards are going to be a vast waste of taxpayers' money," said the party's home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg. 22 Nov 2007 12:39:40 GMT http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hx3MR6wwaLbXlP_XbSWGYHMGpEdA BE49D80F-0EFE-458E-A039-28EDE9973ED5 Press Association Ideal if you're planning a getaway... The estimated cost of the UK national ID card scheme continues to climb, with the combined card-&-biometric-passport price now passing £100. And IPS chief executive James Hall suggests that Post Offices and travel agents may be recruited to enrol people to the scheme. The IPS (slogan: "Everyone's unique. Let us keep it that way") chief made the revelations yesterday. The planned new network of 70 ID card-issuing offices, he said, would probably be insufficient to cope with demand, and negotiations were underway to provide more outlets. 22 Nov 2007 12:37:27 GMT http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/09/id_card_n_passport_passes_ton/ Lewis Page D154A9D8-7A56-4D64-958A-455DB40500AA The Register The Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Williams has said she would rather go to prison than carry an identity card. Baroness Williams said the cards would seriously undermine individual liberty so people were entitled to refuse their co-operation, using non-violent means. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Any Questions, she described the plans as "a Big Brother scheme of the most terrifying kind". 22 Nov 2007 12:36:44 GMT http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7088315.stm 19049459-D27E-4243-AA57-8C29F95AF823 BBC UK.Gov thanks Lastminute.com for helping slash costs The cost of the government's planned ID card scheme has dropped to a bargain £5.6bn the government's latest six monthly report into the project's progress reveals. The £5.6bn figure covers the total cost of providing ID cards and biometric passports to UK and resident Irish citizens and foreign nationals wishing to extend their leave in the UK. The last government estimate back in May was £5.75bn. Mysteriously, costs will be reduced by £85m due to people delaying renewal of their passports. Why people are doing so in not revealed in the report. 22 Nov 2007 12:35:26 GMT http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/08/id_costs_change/ John Oates 44E98090-31B2-4D51-BA12-7227F57389E2 The Register The cost of introducing identity cards and biometric passports has risen to £5.6billion over the next 10 years, according to a new Government estimate. The £5.612billion total is £71million up on an estimate made by the Home Office's Identity and Passport Service in April, but £138million down on the figure reached a year ago. The IPS said projected costs had been reduced over the last year because of expectations that in future customers will delay renewing their passports, reducing the total volume of demand, as well as cuts in the predicted cost of producing the passports and cards. 22 Nov 2007 12:34:12 GMT http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=492491&in_page_id=1770&ito=newsnow 694C2E7C-FAA1-4CE0-B475-0A7871C6AC3D The Daily Mail The proposed ID card is likely to cost at least £100 when it is introduced in two years. New calculations from the Government show that the total bill for the Home Office will be about £5.5 billion over the next 10 years. The figure is £2.4 billion higher than when the Government floated the idea in 2004. The total cost to the public could be many times that figure, as the sum relates only to start-up and running costs for the core project. Government departments, local councils and thousands of other public outlets from libraries to benefit offices will need to invest in new equipment to read the ID cards. 22 Nov 2007 12:32:16 GMT http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/09/nid109.xml Philip Johnston 424F3633-0F1A-4F6D-9B4C-2F21B0ACAF07 The Daily Telegraph The Post Office and travel agents look set to play a key role in the national identity card system as Gordon Brown presses ahead with the controversial project, according to senior officials. James Hall, the chief executive of the Identity and Passport Service, said the outlets were likely to be used to help speed up the enrolment process to obtain new biometric passports and identity cards, providing services such as application checking and finger-printing. 22 Nov 2007 12:31:10 GMT http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/50dcff0a-8e66-11dc-8591-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1 Jimmy Burns and John Wilman EAA4A924-7E70-4836-91AB-DCFAAE2899E4 FT.com The projected cost of the identity card scheme will be £5.612bn over the next 10 years, the Home Office says. The figures, which are for October 2007 to October 2017, cover the set up and the operational expenses of the scheme. All foreign nationals will have to carry biometric ID cards from 2008 and from 2010 all UK passport applicants will be issued with them. Lib Dem spokesman Nick Clegg said it was a “vast waste of taxpayers' money" which should be spent on more police. The Conservatives also oppose ID cards and say they would scrap the scheme in favour of a dedicated border police force. 22 Nov 2007 12:30:05 GMT http://rinf.com/alt-news/surveillance-big-brother/id-card-scam-to-cost-56bn%E2%80%8F/1682/ 79F66189-A0CF-4E3A-9BBF-A1634A86566B RINF The Home Office will call for bids for the first two pieces of work on the National Identity Scheme in May 2008. The mini projects are for the biometric database and application and enrolment operation. The call will come out as soon as the Home Office finalises the participants in its framework procurement agreement, which is expected by May, a Home Office spokesman said. On 19 October the IPS shortlisted eight firms for a framework agreement to supply the NIS infrastructure: Accenture, BAE Systems, Computer Sciences Corporation, EDS, Fujitsu, IBM, Steria, and Thales. The spokesman said the Home Office might trim this list in December. 22 Nov 2007 12:18:32 GMT http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2007/11/09/228017/home-office-reveals-first-projects-for-national-identity.htm Ian Grant 83450BBE-DF8C-4AB9-818B-5FE88DC9FCB3 Computer Weekly Small sops to freedom can't hide what Labour has stolen Even as Gordon Brown invokes Locke, Churchill and Orwell, his every act proves that, at heart, he is deeply anti-libertarian For the first few minutes of Gordon Brown's speech on liberty, I was ready to walk down the aisle with him, compose sonnets in his honour, extend to his tired shoulders the benefits of my celebrated neck massage. Here at last was a Prime Minister who reads books and who has a knowledge of the long struggle for liberty and rights so well told in AC Grayling's book, Towards the Light But then the clouds of suspicion began to gather as I watched the Labour commentariat, their expressions resembling nothing so much as the empty rictus of halloween pumpkins. Surely they see what Brown and Straw are up to. Both men were members of the Blair cabinet which mounted the greatest attack in peacetime on the people's rights and liberties. Having taken what was ours, they now offer it back to us - reduced and compromised - but as though it was somehow their beautiful gift to the people. They are repackaging our liberty and selling it to us as a new bill of rights and duties 22 Nov 2007 11:36:04 GMT http://observer.guardian.co.uk/columnists/story/0,,2200660,00.html Henry Porter 6D4D2EEC-FED0-4B9A-9B07-50FB0AD16ACE The Observer A campaign group against government waste has called on the government to cut its losses and scrap the compulsory ID card scheme. "The money they have wasted so far is insignificant compared to the billions that will be squandered if they go ahead with the ID scheme," said Matthew Elliot, chief executive of the Tax Payers Alliance. "It is better they scrap it now. We just hope they are brave enough to do the right thing." 22 Nov 2007 11:35:00 GMT http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2007/11/05/227933/government-not-ready-to-play-its-id-cards.htm Nick Booth 21385F93-9724-4319-AB25-BEAF51D81CC2 Computer Weekly Next phase of the long trek back from the brink? Compulsory ID cards are to be scrapped, claims the Sunday Mirror today. And although the claim was immediately denied by ministers, the tone of the denials so far has been mysteriously unconvincing. Home Office Minister Tony McNulty in particular seems to give the impression of a man who suspects he might not know what's going on; he's a Home Office veteran, so ignorance is nothing new, but a glimmer of self-awareness is novel. McNulty, monitor i/c security, counter-terrorism, crime and policing, was asked by Sky News whether the timetable that called for ID cards to become compulsory in 2010 stood, and replied: "As I understand it we will roll it out with foreign nationals first, as indicated. Those seeking asylum already have them in an early form and that will be developed and the thing as I understand it rolls out as planned." 22 Nov 2007 11:33:46 GMT http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/04/brown_scrap_idcards_claim/ John Lettice A0A59BA5-8F20-49A1-B733-494BC57BF024 The Register The Government's plan to bring in identity cards is running behind schedule and the cost is soaring, according to critics. Ministers have revealed they have spent £69m on opening 59 passport interview centres that will form the core of the ID registration network. Opponents have warned that the £5.3bn ID cards scheme could be hit by the same problems that engulfed other Government IT projects, including the NHS computer system. The Liberal Democrats, who uncovered the latest costings through parliamentary questions, claim it is already unravelling. Interviews for passports were due to start in "late 2006", according to the Home Office's initial timetable. In January this year, the Government admitted they would not start after after the new financial year began in April. The sessions finally started in May in two places - even though 454 staff had been recruited by October 2006. The Government had planned to find 69 offices at a cost of £55m by the end of 2006. By October 2006, it had found 21 offices, by March this year, 39 offices and by June, 59 offices. By July, only 531 people had been interviewed. 22 Nov 2007 11:32:28 GMT http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article3129664.ece Andrew Grice 4CA3D71C-DA5E-4515-AB21-54BEBE21E28B The Independent Gordon Brown has demanded a review of the technology behind the proposed new ID cards, the Guardian has learned. The prime minister is understood to have expressed concern that the huge new project - the biggest since the introduction of a computerised national patients system - does not prove to be another IT fiasco. Ministers have fought in the courts and in information tribunals any move to disclose existing assessments by Whitehall of the viability of ID cards in the Gateway Reviews by the Treasury's Office of Government Commerce. The reviews, thought to have been highly critical, were never published. 22 Nov 2007 11:31:27 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,2205297,00.html David Hencke A0CE07A6-5F5E-4C2B-95B8-2CEE00C4C440 The Guardian The government's identity cards scheme may be delayed after another reported review. The Guardian newspaper claims Gordon Brown's concerns about the risks of technological failure could lead to a delay in the controversial initiative's rollout. Following heavy criticisms surrounding the recent IT upgrades within the NHS, Mr Brown is reportedly concerned that all technological components of the ID card scheme are working prior to its introduction. 22 Nov 2007 11:30:18 GMT http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/news/id-review-on-the-cards-18342184.html Adfero Ltd E55A5448-35FC-4CAB-82F2-C490D5A2ECA4 www.viewlondon.co.uk Ministers have played down reports that compulsory ID cards for all Britons are to be scrapped, in favour of other measures in next week's Queen's Speech. Cabinet minister Peter Hain told the BBC it was "not true" that the scheme was being put on the backburner. 22 Nov 2007 11:29:37 GMT http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7077550.stm A489BF9C-A754-4876-9C2F-FDC31CEC2218 BBC Nick Clegg, the odds-on favourite to become Liberal Democrat leader, yesterday announced that he will break the law and refuse to provide details of his identity if the government presses ahead with plans to make ID cards compulsory. Drawing a parallel with resistance to the poll tax, he said he would also urge his fellow MPs and Lib Dem councils not to cooperate. Under the existing law, many British citizens will have their details voluntarily placed on to the ID card database when they apply for a passport or a driving licence. 22 Nov 2007 11:28:41 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/idcards/story/0,,2202169,00.html Patrick Wintour 7199D010-A031-4050-A82A-E57F7D974557 The Guardian No mention of egalité or fraternité Gordon Brown's government yesterday sent mixed messages on questions of personal liberty versus collective security. On the one hand, the Prime Minister pledged reforms and initiatives aimed at simplifying and reducing official powers to enter homes and private property. Justice Minister Jack Straw, too, kicked off several consultations on giving more voice to Parliament (in the case of declaring wars) or organised mobs (in the case of rights to protest outside the Palace of Westminster). Plans to enhance the independence of the judiciary were also mooted. Rather counterbalancing this, Mr Brown suggested he personally would favour an extension of police powers to hold suspects for long periods without trial. He also favoured the controversial National ID card system. 22 Nov 2007 11:27:35 GMT http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/26/brown_constitution_liberty_freedom_id_cards_journalism_war/ Lewis Page 6A1C396D-2089-480C-B9E2-CAEBCC396FAD The Register The real test of whether the prime minister is a sincere defender of civil liberties remains ID cards There is much to applaud in Gordon Brown's speech about civil liberties last week. It is an admirable thing to have a prime minister who reads and reflects, and who is obviously sincere in wishing to address concerns about the diminution of liberties that our forebears fought long and hard to get. For not the least striking thing about the speech is that it was made at all. It displays a consciousness that there is a constituency in the country, influential above its numbers, which is profoundly concerned by the effect of government policies on civil liberties, especially since David Blunkett's tenure at the Home Office. Under Blunkett and Tony Blair there was the merest lip service to the "British way of life" 22 Nov 2007 11:26:05 GMT http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/comment/0,,2200943,00.html AC Grayling 6B3F9D4E-D1D3-40F0-8DF5-EC2B07BE78A2 The Guardian Frank Abagnale, a one-time fraudster who now works with law-enforcement agencies, strongly criticised the UK ID cards scheme at the RSA Conference Europe 2007 on Wednesday. At a press Q&A session before his keynote, Abagnale said that one weak link in an organisation can compromise the whole system. "With the ID cards scheme, all it takes is one weak civil servant to be bought off, and one weak link can [compromise the system]," said Abagnale. "I'm not big on ID cards - you're giving the government information that someone else can access. ID cards make it 100 times easier to steal that information, because it's concentrated in one place. Nothing is really secure; if the money is right, you can forge a passport to back fraudulent activities - you can forge ID cards. You can replicate holograms, dyes in paper, and give terrorists access to Britain." 22 Nov 2007 11:24:59 GMT http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39290368,00.htm Tom Espiner 5381C960-0688-4C09-9EC3-6F2EDA27BBAC ZDNet.co.uk A cross-border spat erupted last night over new Home Office plans for compulsory ID cards in Scotland. The Sunday Herald can reveal that the UK government is considering fast-tracking the project by using the micro-chipped bus passes held by more than a million Scots. Whitehall officials have set up a working group which will look at how to piggyback the National Identity Register (NIR) on to the Executive's entitlement card scheme. Last night the Scottish government claimed it had been excluded from crucial discussions and warned that any data-grab attempt would be illegal. 25 Oct 2007 10:55:39 GMT http://rinf.com/alt-news/surveillance-big-brother/plan-to-%E2%80%98hijack%E2%80%99-bus-passes-as-id-cards/1552/ Mark Howarth C4A04577-06B9-4245-9F1B-D10F110844F8 Sunday Herald/RNIF BAE Systems Plc, Electronic Data Systems Corp. and International Business Machines Corp. were among eight companies that won the right to bid for work on Britain's 5.3 billion-pound ($10 billion) ID card program. Accenture Ltd., Fujitsu Ltd., Computer Sciences Corp., Groupe Steria SCA and Thales SA also were selected, the Home Office said today in London. Five companies will be chosen in May 2008 to operate Britain's first national identification card program since World War II. ``Over the next few weeks we will be in constant contact with the selected bidders, explaining in detail our plans and listening closely to their views,'' Bill Crothers, commercial director of the Identity and Passport Service, said in a statement in London today. Foreigners living in the U.K. more than a year will be required to carry the cards from next year. Parliament approved rules allowing the program in March 2006 over the objections of civil liberties groups and opposition lawmakers, who say the plan is costly and unworkable. 25 Oct 2007 10:54:23 GMT http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aTjroTqDaaMw&refer=europe Kitty Donaldson B2DCAC9C-5B71-4F94-9A65-43B8718D987F Bloomberg Eight companies are in the running as key suppliers for the Identity and Passport Service's (IPS) National Identity Scheme. The companies named as potential suppliers for the scheme - which includes the national ID cards programme - are Accenture, BAE Systems, CSC, EDS, Fujitsu, IBM, Steria and Thales. The original procurement notice was posted on the European OJEU (Official Journal of the European Union) website in August and a bidders conference was held in September where interested parties could find out more about the procurement process. 25 Oct 2007 10:53:18 GMT http://www.silicon.com/publicsector/0,3800010403,39168902,00.htm?r=1 Tim Ferguson E48F7277-5C09-4A43-9149-AFC48151DDDE Silicon.com The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) has shortlisted eight suppliers from which five will be chosen in May 2008 to enter a framework agreement to supply systems for the government's National Identity Scheme. The eight are: Accenture, BAE Systems, Computer Sciences Corporation, EDS, Fujitsu, IBM, Steria, and Thales. IPS earlier received 11 responses to its invitation to tender. Bill Crothers, IPS commercial director, said, "The announcement today of the shortlist of eight bidders represents another important milestone towards delivering the National Identity Scheme. 25 Oct 2007 10:50:38 GMT Ian Grant A11F53FF-381A-4075-9499-53642EBC233E Computer Weekly Troubled chancellor Alistair Darling could have saved himself a nifty £6bn in Tuesday's pre-budget report by canning the unnecessary, ill-conceived and wildly unpopular national ID Card scheme. It's a measure of the opprobrium that the hi-tech scheme has attracted that not only have the usual civil liberties types been queuing up to have a go, it's also been denigrated by those which is intended to serve. Dame Stella Rimington, former MI5 chief, is on record for having branded the cards 'useless'. Now it seems that even the big-name IT companies - which stand to benefit to the tune of hundreds of millions of pounds from the scheme and are not organisations renowned for putting personal morals before the profit motive want to have much to do with it. 25 Oct 2007 10:47:46 GMT http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/channel/TechnologyInnovation/news/744570/id-cards-cash-bonf