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Story URL: http://software.silicon.com/security/0,39024655,39122745,00.htm

ID card plans slammed by MPs
Not thought out properly, numbers don't add up, insecure, dodgy tech…

By Jo Best

Published: Thursday 29 July 2004

A Home Affairs select committee report due to be published tomorrow is expected to condemn David Blunkett's plans for ID cards as being too fuzzy, financially unsound, badly planned and generally going a bit too far.

A leaked copy of the report, seen by The Guardian, lists a catalogue of objections by MPs to the ID card bill over both its theory and its execution. Among the chief concerns expressed by the MPs is that too much secrecy exists around the plans and that there is a risk of "function creep" - whereby data held on citizens starts to be accessed by other government authorities.

The select committee is so concerned that it is requesting government be given extra powers to make sure the ID card plans don't get out of hand. The committee also warns that the cards are being used by the government as a front to introduce a national fingerprint database and could even be cross-referenced with images from CCTV cameras in the future.

The committee says it's not opposed to the cards in principle but believes the draft government bill is inadequate and should be revamped before being put before parliament.

The report records fears that private companies will demand access to the database. It also says that the intelligence services will have "nearly unfettered access to information on the database without the knowledge of the ID card holder".

The MPs also aren't entirely convinced the biometrics are trustworthy, saying that using the technology can prove uncomfortable for users and needs greater testing.