Constitutional Committee report recommends legal safeguards
The proposed national identity scheme commissioner should be independent of government, with the power to investigate complaints and report directly to Parliament, say the House of Lords.
A report on the government's Identity Cards Bill from the all-party House of Lords Constitution Committee says the identity card scheme will "fundamentally change" the relationship between citizen and state, recording more info about a person than ever attempted before.
Committee chairman Lord Holme of Cheltenham, said: "The Committee firmly reject Government claims that, in respect of privacy, ID cards are comparable to driving licenses and passports. If Parliament decides identity cards are needed, it must urgently consider amendments to introduce proper safeguards," he added.
As well as an independent commissioner, the Committee call for an independent body to be the custodian of the National Identity Registrar, with proper safeguards to prevent improper access to data, by public servants and others in place.
The Bill's scope, the report adds, should be limited to a "voluntary phase". "If the scheme is extended compulsorily to the entire population, then new legislation should be required," the report says.
Read the report here: http://www.egovmonitor.com/reports/rep12327.pdf (164KB - PDF)
