Toolkit

Story: Are ID cards a game of blind man's bluff?

Posted by: Anonymous (Wednesday 19 November 2003, 12:27 PM)

Regardless of the (unevaluated) effectiveness of a national ID system in reducing crime, illegal immigration, terrorism etc the implementation has not been thought through.

Unless the police carry biometric or other scanners, all that an ID card can do is give a reference that can be used to check a database. That database should be able to verify whether the data held on the card is associated with a known person, but not whether that person is carrying it. For that we have to rely on a photograph!

Everybody carries their biometric data as an integral part of them. If an ID scheme is implemented, that data will be stored centrally. Why duplicate it on a card which can be forged and carry it alongside the original?

Why not issue police with simple fingerprint scanners which transmit the fingerprint to the central database. We already have the technology in mobile phones with cameras. If details match then identity is confirmed. If no match, then the police either have a suspect or his fingerprint! The prospects for forgery are very significantly reduced, because they would require surgery or hacking into the database.

Much cheaper to issue a few thousand police with scanners than 50million people with ID cards.

Further, no-one seems to have considered the liability implications for the thousands of laser based retinal scanners needed. What are the safety limits? Would someone be within their rights to refuse retinal scanning on safety grounds? Would postmen need biometric scanners for registered parcels?