Keep it simple for the ID cards programme
Regarding the ID cards project, I worked in the public sector
for about six months and that was all it took for me to realise how
inefficient and costly the public sector makes everything it seems
to set its hand to.
The fact is that ID cards are no big deal provided the correct
amount of information is placed on the ID card. Keep It Simple has
always been the mantra in IT. Anything that is not becomes a camel
- a racehorse designed by a committee.
What is wrong with name, address, date of birth and a photo? The
government does not need any more information than this. Any
information beyond this must have strict justification and be
subject to the EU Directive on privacy.
The ID card project is already behind schedule, yet there are
those who will argue the project has not started yet and that it is
still being discussed. It is because of endless meetings that
nothing ever gets done on time or on budget.
The fact is that the project started when the idea was put on
the table.
In my experience a typical public sector project is 10% doing,
5% design, 85% talking about it, then another 50% fixing it. Yes, I
know that is 150%, but the extra 50% is the waste of time and money
going into public sector projects.
I forgot to add the other 50% that needs to be added because
there will be a minority who did not get their own way and seek to
obstruct and derail, even when agreement has been made.
Graeme Blundell
Are we mad or just naïve on ID cards
scheme?
Toby Stevens' article on ID card fraud (Computer Weekly, 19
December) was thoughtful and interesting in that it brought out
strongly the fact that reliance on a single identity verification
is very dangerous.
Since only UK citizens would hold this 100% security, acceptance
means anyone from anywhere else would only need to get a UK ID to
open up the entire UK system to any crime, scam or worse.
Are we totally naïve or simply ill-informed? The UK lost control
of its physical borders years ago. So now by the wrong people
simply getting hold of these magic little cards we lose control of
our cyber borders as well.
Can it really be that easy? I think it can, and we know that the
parallel technology already exists to produce the ID cards and/or
to enter and modify any that the UK issues to its 65 million
"citizens".
Perhaps we are not just naïve, but mad: only daft politicians
could get us to this point.
What has it got to do with security or terrorism? It is really a
means of political control over 65 million UK people into
perpetuity.
Greville Warwick, MCS
Technology for ID cards also available to
criminals
I agree with Toby Stevens' concerns (Computer Weekly, 19
December) about who will take the liability for ID card fraud. The
government must take responsibility for the possibility of fraud
with these things. It is claiming that these will be 100% secure.
Well, we have all heard that before.
Anything generated by a person or a program is hackable. Not to
mention the fact that MI5 or MI6 will certainly have the ability to
alter/manipulate these things.
And if businesses have to have equipment to read these cards,
then so will the counterfeiters.
Where are the checks going to be made? With the information on
the card, or back on the mainframe that the information came from
?
If it's on the mainframe, then again, with the equipment being
made available to businesses to do this legitimately, the crooks of
this world will have access to them too, and therefore access to
the mainframe (to hack). Doesn't make it 100% secure to me.
At the end of the day, the information is stored on a computer,
which is therefore open to attack from whatever means.
Mike Quirk
Why Microsoft needs to streamline product
offer
It was refreshing to read the opinion published by Ibukun
Adebayo (Computer Weekly, 12 December). Microsoft does really need
to concentrate on its core products such as Windows, Exchange
Server, SQL Server and Office products such as Dynamics are just a
wasted effort.
These core products could be much better, and Microsoft needs to
streamline its product offerings and licensing to make purchases
simpler and more straightforward.
This would benefit organisations with much tighter budgets by
removing the current confusion surrounding many Microsoft products
and licensing.
Ben Rattigan, Senior ICT manager, Fastflow Pipeline
Services
Do you agree with Graeme Blundell on public sector inefficiency?
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