The Identity and Passport Service has just launched a Public Panel and Experts Group. In their words:
The Public Panels will provide an opportunity for IPS to have a conversation with the public and listen to the concerns and views of people in relation to identity cards.
The Experts Group will provide an independent perspective to inform the development of the NIS.
Independent experts will:
- Provide clarity where there may be ambiguity and will help the Public Panel understand the detail
- Challenge the thought process through the review and analysis of policies and process
- Provide alternative solutions through reasoned opinions
- Provide a credible and independent view that will serve to enhance and strengthen our direction
- Provide an opportunity for experts across disciplines to share knowledge and further their understanding
These groups are the product of the Identity Rights team, which have been notable for their engagement with stakeholders at times when the rest of IPS have been very quiet. Anyone is eligible to apply for either group, and applications will open on 23rd September.
[Declaration of Interests: The Enterprise Privacy Group was commissioned by IPS in 2008 to assist with stakeholder engagement, a contract which closed earlier this year]
Comments (1)
I'm confused by this. The most egregious parts of the ID scheme are hard-wired into the legislation and exacerbated by a strategy to which the IPS is already committed.
What, therefore is "stakeholder engagement" supposed to achieve? Is it a marketing exercise? Proleptic pseudo-consultation? Or are there further plans up the Home Office's sleeve? Call me suspicious, but that last is what I read into "help ... identity cards bring the benefits that matter in daily life."
There are of course *no* benefits in daily life from the scheme as it stands. It would need extension to provide them plausibly, so the panels' functions could be to find pretexts required expansion and maybe the holy grail of frank compulsion.
Will they be asked to consider social costs too, I wonder?
Posted by Guy Herbert | September 24, 2009 8:35 PM
Posted on September 24, 2009 20:35