LSE outlines radical alternative to Government plans
Academics have proposed an alternative to the Government's plans for a national identity card scheme which they claim will be more secure, reliable, cost-effective and citizen-friendly.
The London School of Economics released for public comment on 6 June details of a possible model for a national identification system.
The report follows on from the LSE's study published in March which rigorously dismantled the Government's proposals for a secure identity system, criticising measures in the Home Office's draft legislation as "technically unsafe."
The LSE said it believed the Government's current approach had "failed" by having evolved not through genuine consultation with the public, but "exclusively through the pursuit of objectives".
To build public trust, the identity system should serve the individual, rather than being seen as a tool purely for Government's benefit, it says.
Under the LSE's proposed model, the Government's central register would contain only the bare minimum information about citizens, reducing the risk of mass identity theft.
Members of the public would also not have to register at mass enrolment centres where three different biometric identifiers would be recorded.
The LSE suggests that people could simply visit an electronic kiosk that takes a digital photograph, accepts basic identifying data, then embeds these into a coded application form. Similar to the current passport application system, the form would be signed by two referees and then handed in for processing.
When the card is ready, the holder would take it to a "trusted third party", such as a bank, to validate against information recorded at the time of application.
All but the essential data held by government would be deleted.
In turn, this would eliminate the legal requirement on individuals to constantly update their file held on the central register.
This change alone, the LSE says, would save between £1 billion to £3 billion over the roll-out period.
The final report, which will include comments on the new proposed model, is due to be published by the end of June.
Related Links
The LSE Identity Project: Alternative Blueprint for a National Identification System (PDF: 106KB)
Reaction
"This sounds a whole lot better than the scheme the Government has proposed. I remain uneasy about ID cards. Does anyone really believe they would stop a terrorist or be any more effective than passports were in preventing 9/11? I also don't like the idea that I could become a criminal simply by not carrying a means of official ID on my person when going about my lawful pursuits."
Anonymous, Local Government
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