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ID Card Free Zones - Background

The ID Cards Act

The Background

The Government is disingenuous in calling the legislation the ID Cards Act, as though it were a simple matter of carrying a little piece of paper with our name and photo on it; if it were that simple what's wrong with the unique identifiers we already have?: Passports, National Insurance numbers, NHS numbers, bank account numbers etc.

What the Government is seeking to do is to track our every movement and activity on a database that logs our biometric details, other personal details, Doctors visits, bank accounts, the journeys we make, etc, etc; but to what end?  The Governments proposals will not produce any increase in convenience or security as citizens of the UK, but make us less safe and poorer.

 

What's in the Act?

It is not as simple as just a new credit card style personal identifier, but is a new 8-part identity system:
1. The National Identification Register - The Act imposes an obligation on the Secretary of State to establish a central population register containing a wide range of details of every UK citizen and resident aged 16 and above.
2. The code - Every individual will be given a unique number.
3. Biometrics – We will be required to submit to fingerprinting and “other” means of physical identification. This is likely to include electronic face scanning and iris recognition.
4. The card - Generated from and containing the information in the Register.
5. Legal obligations - There is a requirement to produce the card in order to obtain public services.
6. Administrative convergence - The number and the card register are used by a variety of agencies and organisations as their administrative basis. Permitting the bringing together of all registration numbers (National Insurance, NHS etc) used by a person.
7. Cross notification - Agencies will be required to notify each other of changes to a person's details. The Secretary of State will be able to disclose details from the register to other agencies without the consent of the individual.
8. New crimes and penalties - The Bill establishes a large number of new crimes and offences to ensure that people comply with the ID requirements.

The legislation is also controversially, in two stages, at first it will be "voluntary" then moving to "compulsion" at a later date; this move will not however need any further primary legislation, but will use delegated legislation.

What information will the National Identity Register hold on you?

At the moment Clause 1 and Schedule 1 of the Bill sets out more than fifty categories of information required for the register (subject to change by regulation)

(Thanks to NO2ID for help on this simple outline of the proposals)

 

Compulsion

Inevitably ID cards will become compulsory by default, as you will have to register to access public services - doctors, dentists, social services; get a bank account etc. Attacking the most vulnerable in society, who are least able to afford the card or any alternative services.

The Select Committee on Home Affairs said " to describe the first phase of the Government's proposals as 'voluntary' stretches the English language to breaking point "

Will it prevent terrorism?

Even the Home Office is now admitting that ID cards will not prevent terrorist acts.  The terrorists who detonated the bombs in Madrid had valid ID cards

There is no evidence that ID cards deter terror attacks - "The presence of an identity card is not recognised by analysts as a meaningful or significant component in anti-terrorism strategies" see the full Privacy International report, and The Guardian article

Former Head of MI5 Stella Rimmington stated that the ID card proposals "will not make us any safer" and she doubted that anyone in the intelligence services would be seeking the introduction of ID cards

Will it stop ID theft & fraud?

It opens a whole new vista of opportunity to criminals, with access to a wider range of information than is presently available

But as in the evidence given by both FIPR and The Law Society pointed out to the Home Affairs Select Committee last year, there's no no link to Identity Cards helping prevent ID theft - countries with ID cards have just as much Identity theft as we do.

The unproven nature of such a large database and biometric technology have caused a major cause for concern from technology experts wary of the loopholes it leaves

Jerry Fishenden, National Technology Officer for Microsoft said the ID cards proposals could generate "massive identity fraud" on a scale as yet unseen.

"Unlike other forms of information, such as credit card details, if core biometric details such as your fingerprints are compromised, it is not going to be possible to provide you with new ones,"

Dr James Backhouse, a director of the London School of Economics Information Systems Integrity Group, on identity theft said: "ID cards will exacerbate the situation. The stakes are raised that much higher if the master key is cracked; it opens the door to all sorts of frauds"

Cost

The Home Office has already admitted the estimated cost of the introduction of ID cards has almost doubled from £3.1 Billion to over £5.5 billion, and Technology consultants and suppliers (Computer Weekly, Silicon.com, LSE) have estimated a cost of up to £30 Billion - and rising - that's an actual cost of over £500 per person for the whole of the UK (Times report - earlier LSE report - Full report, Press statement); this will also be combined with an estimated £583 million yearly cost of the scheme - and we will have to pay for it all. Government estimate have varied but they apper to happy with a cost of approximately £100 per person although with rising costs £300 per person seems a more accurate figure; and that will be for each time you have to get a new card, and by the way it will also probably need replacing every 5 years.

Is the technology safe and reliable?

By no means; the biometric fingerprint reading had a 30% failure rate in tests (see the full Home Office report here) there were also poor results in the iris scanning of older people and Black & Minority Ethnic people.  The British Computer Society has also voiced "potentially serious problems in both the creation and use of a national ID card because the government's proposals fail to take account of common disabilities" .

The US government also wants us to share chip technology, so that they will be able to read UK cards

Also see the www.silicon.com campaign - ID Cards On Trial

Privacy

The Government's own Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas stated in July 2004:

"I want to make it very clear to the public that this draft Bill is not just about an ID card, but an extensive national identity register and the creation of a national identity registration number. Each of these raise substantial data protection and personal privacy concerns in their own right. Further clarification is also needed [for] the reasons why such a large amount of information needs to be recorded as part of establishing an individual's identity. I also have concerns in relation to the wide range of bodies who can view the record of what services individuals have used. This will enable the Government and others to build up a comprehensive picture of how we live our lives. However, individuals will not know which bodies have been accessing their personal information."

and in August 2004 re-emphasised the point by saying:

"My anxiety is that we don't sleepwalk into a surveillance society"

Minority Groups & Vulnerable People

The CRE have concerns that there would be a disproportionate requirement for ethnic minorities to identify themselves; which may create a two tiered structure amongst racial groups, with foreign nationals and British ethnic minorities feeling compelled to register while British white persons do not.

The Government's own Race Equality Impact Assessment voiced fears from the Black & Minority Ethnic community that there was greater potential for abuse and discrimination by the Police in the use of their powers.

The impact will also be greater on groups such as Gypsies and Travellers and refugees who would be forced to continually re-register because of their lifestyle or circumstances

It has also been recommended that more work is required to protect the interests of vulnerable individuals. For example, women escaping a violent partner or a forced marriage because of the risk if their previous names or addresses are disclosed.