The information commissioner Richard Thomas has attacked
the government for failing to produce a clear business case for a
national IT card scheme. The project would cost taxpayers an
estimated £6bn.
The data protection watchdog accused ministers of resorting to "Sir
Humphrey" justifications for the ID card scheme which do not
explain how ID cards would achieve the government's goals of
tackling terrorism, illegal working and crime.
Speaking to MPs on the cross-party home affairs committee last
week, Thomas said he was increasingly concerned about the privacy
implications of the scheme and, in particular, the development of a
national identity register to record personal information about 60
million people.
"The introduction of such a register marks a sea change in the
relationship between the state and the individual," he said. "It is
therefore essential that a clearly defined proposal is brought
forward detailing how the scheme will work in practice."
Thomas warned that the population register was untested technology
and could cause serious problems for individuals if data was lost
or recorded inaccurately, ranging from loss of access to government
services to loss of livelihood.
He urged the government to give individuals the right to access and
correct mistakes on their data on the register - a right denied in
the draft ID Cards Bill.
Thomas also warned that making the register a gold standard for
verifying identity would make ID cards a magnet for criminals and
counterfeiters.
The government had failed to address the risk of "function creep"
in the way that it plans to use information stored on the register,
he said.
The draft ID Cards Bill was too broadly worded and too open-ended,
allowing officials to access personal information from the register
for reasons which were not adequately defined, Thomas said. He also
criticised ministers for describing the ID scheme as voluntary,
when in practice people would not be able to opt out of receiving
ID cards when they renewed their passports and driving
licences.
The government has estimated the cost of the scheme at between £1bn
and £3bn, but the cost of rolling out biometric card readers could
push the figure up to £6bn.