Privacy Digest

ID card costs rise - but is the security weakening?: via Public Sector at silicon.com<

"Opponents of ID cards have renewed their attacks on the scheme, claiming security is being watered down even as the cost of the cards rises.

Cards will only be checked against biometric details on the National Identity Register (NIR) in a 'minority of cases' according to Home Office documents, prompting accusations it has been relegated to a 'flash and go' card.

The Home Office consultation documents said: 'Most transactions involving the identity cards are likely to be visual checks of the card, or a local check of the information held on the card (e.g. using a scanner)."

"In only a minority of cases - requiring the highest standard of identity assurance - will it be necessary to check identity against information on the NIR."

Ian Angell, a professor at the London School of Economics (LSE) and one of the authors of a report into the scheme, said this undermines the government's claim the ID card system will offer a rock-solid way of verifying a person's identity by locking an ID to biometric details on a secure database.

And Phil Booth national co-ordinator for ID cards pressure group NO2ID said: "It makes the whole system a nonsense, the government is saying that ultimately the whole national identity scheme will come down to a 'flash and go' system.

"A system that is presumed secure which is in fact insecure, then that is worse than having no system at all."

LSE's Angell said: "If they do not check the database then fraud will go up as criminals will quickly figure this out and be able to make a copy of the card and change the photo.

"These shortcuts are going to turn it into a hugely expensive failure."

But an Identity and Passport Service spokesman denied the system would be vulnerable to fraud: "The majority of instances where people use their identity cards will be day to day situations where the cards offer a convenient method of proving identity such as a young person proving their age to buy alcohol," he said.

"Whenever the highest level of identity assurance is vital to prevent fraudulent and criminal activity - such as high end financial transactions or at our borders - checks will always be made against the national identity register.

"The card itself will be protected against forgery by a number of security features. The Identity and Passport Service has issued more than 12 million ePassports to date and nobody has successfully cloned the chip," the spokesman said.

It has also been revealed the National Identity Register Number (Nirno) will now not appear on the card or its embedded chip. Director of Privacy International Simon Davies welcomed the removal of the Nirno, following concerns it could be cross referenced across multiple transactions - such as proof of age purchases or opening a bank account - to track a person's everyday activities.

"For five years we expressed concern about publishing the Nirno, it is amazing that it has taken all this time and £150m pounds for the government to decide to take this initiative," Davies said.

Yesterday the government began touting for high street businesses and other companies to install the equipment to take the 10 fingerprints, facial and signature scan that will be stored in the NIR. It named the Post Office as an example of possible contenders and said local authorities are also being considered as enrolment centres.

Critics say it will inflate the £30 it will cost for a card as the public also have to pay to have their fingerprints taken, with the Home Office estimating the scanners will generate between £120m and £280m per year for business.

Shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve said: "We already know that ID cards will do nothing to improve our security but may make it worse. Now we see that the already substantial cost to the tax payer is going to increase. This is particularly outrageous given the current economic crisis."

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