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Apr 22: ID Cards - It will be so perfect in 10yrs time

So says the IPS ( Identity and Passport Service) corporate and business plan. Business Plan? A Business plan? Am I to understand that HMG are going to be attempting to make money from My ID ? Looks like it to me.
This is the vision, cue rosey flowery images of people who are all happy and there is no crime, no illnesses as all that will be banished by the almighty, all powerfull leader TB (humm that is an Illness in more than one way, but that's another story)

"IPS has been operating effectively for over 10 years since its creation in 2006. The success of the National Identity Card Scheme means that the majority of all UK residents have applied for an ID card and are now registered with the National Identity Register (NIR)," forecasts the study.

 

It goes on to paint a society in which "all major public services and government departments" are accredited organisations able to check an ID card against data held on the central register.

Accredited organisations? Who will give them accredication? I hear that cowboy carpark attendants can get access to your address by calling the DVLA and saying, 'I'm a Mr X and I work for BadParking Inc, and car number so and so is parked illigally but has done a runner, can I have the owners address so that I can send a fine?' Yes sir, here's the address ... That's it, fine sent on, no checks, nothing...

So what's to stop an 'accredited' organisation doing the same? A cowboy working in one? There doesn't seem to be any organisation that has teeth to challenge on behalf of the person affected.

This is where it starts getting very worrying...
Within a similar time-scale, many private-sector organisations, including banks, building societies, and airlines, would be accredited to "use the identity services offered by the scheme", with the NIR "supporting over 400m verification checks a year against identity records".

What will they see? All they need to see should be something along the lines, of the card validitity. All that needs to come up on the screen is confirmation of my photo, and ID number... That's it. The only other thing I think might be needed, for a Bank or organisation that is going to provide loans, is that I have no county court injunctions on issues of bad dept. Considering, this info is already available today. so nothing new.
An Airline will just need to know that the card is valid. Nothing else, but I can imagine that they will want to have info on any criminal history, are you a heavy drinker, do you have a history of violence? things that well, are not for them to know.
"Anyone now undertaking an interview as part of a Jobcentre Plus benefit application, immigration interview, registering with a general practitioner or applying for a mortgage can expect to have their case handed more reliably as a result of the implementation of the scheme," according to the picture of life in 10 years' time.

I don't see much of a problem with this, at the moment there isn't any single recognised ID device, If you need to register with a GP you need to prove A: You are who you say you are, and B: That you Live where you say you live. It's the latter that's a problem, this is usually in the form of a utility bill, Bank or credit card bill, these one can fish out of a rubbish bin, (the main soruce of ID fraud to date). Considering most EU countries have ID card schemes that work successfully.

So what's the problem?
Well, firstly, there is NO plan or if there is, it's very muted, for an ombudsman who will control and monitor the 'accredited' organisation, what will happen if someone puts forward malicious information about me, that gets on the record? How do I remove it? If one gets arrested, I know the Police will take a DNA sample from me, if I'm innocent, can I get it removed? How easy or hard will it be for me to correct incorrect information about myself? Will I be able to see what information is held on me?
Last an not least, if this is a card that I 'HAVE' to have, then I shouldn't have to pay for it!
I don't 'have' to have a passport, but as I like to travel, I have to get one, so one could say, It's compulsary.  In the US I suppose you could live all your life without needing one, but in Europe, this would be a wee bit harder.

So, in it's present form, I'm no fan of the ID card system that is being planned for the UK.

Sources:
FT.com
IPS
Posted by Andy Rambling in News - UK, News - UK Comments: (0) Trackbacks: (0)
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