Director of the Home Office National Identity Cards Unit speaks out
I've just read a rather interesting piece in Information Age that raises some questions about how the Home Office will go about implementing the scheme. Unfortunately it's not news as such - it is reporting a speech that Katherine Courtney delivered in January - but it has an unintended relevance because of the recent revelations about the release of foreign prisoners without deportation.
The Director gave the example of how valuable ID Cards would be to identify criminals thoughout the justice system from arrest through to incarceration. Apparently it is the lack of strong identity that hinders the authorities' ability to add value in these circumstances. I do actually agree with the idea, but the timing of the article is unfortunate.
There's a few very interesting comments in there too. The article states that:
"Through identity federation technology, other government departments and accredited private sector organisations will be able to use this information to quickly establish or confirm the identity of a citizen with whom they are dealing."
Does this mean that we are actually going to get a federated scheme? Somehow I doubt it, since the legislation seems to mandate the opposite, but I'm sure this can't be a case of sloppy use of technical terms or poor reporting.
The article gets better still later on. Apparently:
"With the exception of the emergency services, all access to an individual's identity information will require that person's consent, a principle that has informed the proposed design of the infrastructure from its inception."
Wow. This is quite a revelation, and would put the scheme on a par with the Estonian system for privacy-friendly identity services. Can it really be that an individual civil servant will be unable to access my records without first obtaining my consent? I'd love to see how the Home Office will manage that particular consent scheme. Let's hope that these assurances are delivered in the final system...
12:55:16 PM 
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