An entitlement card scheme for accessing government services which
would store personal data and biometric information such as a
citizen's iris pattern would present "near insurmountable"
technical challenges, experts have warned.
The Government has used recent trials and demonstrations of an iris
photographing system at UK post offices as proof of public
acceptance of the approach, which is currently the subject of a
public consultation into entitlement cards.
Last week Home Office minister Lord Falconer claimed there was a
two-to-one split in favour of an entitlement card scheme for
accessing government services, based on trials involving 450
volunteers.
However, Dave Birch, a director at consultancy Consult Hyperion,
said problems relating to compiling the databases of personal
information for such a scheme, ironing out back-office problems and
integration concerns were "near insurmountable". "It might happen
in 10 years but I would regard it as unlikely in the short term,"
he said.
Birch said the registration process would constitute a "huge
problem" and expressed concerns that the Government may try to use
a central database, which would create "a single point of failure".
Birch also pointed to the risk of unauthorised people gaining
access to personal data and biometric information. "The
consequences are so bad it is hardly worth thinking about," he
said.
While Birch is not against the idea of an entitlement scheme for
certain functions, he believes that expectations are being raised
too high.
The Government consultation paper Entitlement Cards and Identity
Fraud, which looks at the potential for using biometric technology,
runs until 31 January. The paper aims to assess whether the cards
would be helpful to the public.