The government is planning further trials of the
biometric technology behind its £5.6bn ID card
programme.
The Home Office plans to recruit 2,100 volunteers as well as 300
people from groups with biometrics that may be "more challenging"
to record, in order to test the ability of biometric systems to
recognise individuals.
The move follows a trial with 10,000 members of the public last
year, which was designed to assess the reaction of the public to
biometrics, rather than the performance of the system.
The Home Office will ask technology suppliers to provide two
identical sets of biometric recording equipment as part of its
procurement programme, details of which were disclosed last
week.
The Home Office plans to divide the project into a "small number
of coherent packages", and aims to move rapidly to negotiating
details of the system with a manageable number of suppliers.
Suppliers could deliver an entire package or work as part of a
consortium to deliver the project, according to the procurement
strategy market soundings document released last week.
The Home Office plans to spend five months working with
suppliers to refine the system, and to test the technology before
issuing a final invitation to tender.
Panel of experts to ensure biometrics are 'fit for
purpose'
The government's chief scientist is to head a panel of experts
to assess the biometric technology behind the government's ID card
programme.
David King, the government's chief scientific adviser, will
chair a panel of 10 experts to ensure that biometrics are "fit for
purpose" for use in the ID card system.
The move follows criticism that biometric technology can have
difficulties recognising some sections of the population.
Research by London University College found that fingerprints
could produce false negatives from people with arthritis, long
fingernails, circulation problems or those wearing hand cream. Iris
recognition could be disrupted if people wore glasses, and face
recognition could be confused if people wore hats or makeup, the
research by Angela Sasses of the department of computer science
revealed.
The Home Office said the formation of the panel, which is due to
meet for the first time later this month, was not in direct
response to the criticism.