UK National ID Cards - A Consultation

Identity Cards - A Consultation

"Should there be a national identity card?"

Most people carry plastic cards these days, to go shopping, get money from 'hole in the wall' cash machines or to prove who they are at work and during leisure time.

Banks and building societies have sent out over 83 million cards. Millions more have been issued by shops, clubs, motoring organisations, employers and for use by people travelling by rail and bus.

Most people carry cards because they are so convenient. Many people, however, feel strongly about the idea of national identity cards, whether voluntary or compulsory. These feelings range from people who support the idea because it could cut crime, to those who believe the cards would cut back on their personal freedom.

The Government thinks the time is right to look at whether there should be a national identity card and wants to stimulate a national debate to see what the public thinks. To help the Government decide whether there should be a national identity card and if so, what type of card to introduce, a consultation document (a Green Paper) has been published setting out the options and posing many of the questions that will be on people's minds.

This booklet is a summary - for more information on the Green Paper and how to make your views known on identity cards, turn to the back page.

A question of identity

Despite a purse or wallet full of cards, people are often asked to produce something else to show who they are when they do ordinary things like paying a bill by cheque, joining a library, hiring goods or buying goods on credit.

Sometimes a bill or an official letter with your name and address on it will do but there are times when it can be tricky to prove who you are, or how old you are.

Important documents like birth and marriage certificates, National Health Service medical cards and driving licences were not intended to prove someone's identity.

One way of proving who you are and where you come from is by carrying your passport - a travel document accepted around the world but hardly necessary or convenient to carry all the time.

A smart solution

Cards may be just pieces of plastic but with modern technology, they can store a lot of information and it's possible for a single card to replace lots of bulky documents.

Many people withdraw cash from a 'hole in the wall' cash point every week showing the confidence they have in a simple card protected by a magnetic stripe on the back.

Just like passports, cards can now be read by machine but the latest 'smart' cards have much wider capacity because they contain a microchip built into them that can hold a much larger amount of information.

For example, they can store a digitised version of the holder's photograph and signature.

Nothing new

The idea of identity cards is not new. They were used during both World Wars, when they were linked to the national registration system. Today, people in the armed forces and other public services carry them.

Although there is no common agreement on the need for identity cards within the European Union, 11 of the 15 member states have identity card schemes.

In other countries such as the USA and Canada, photograph- bearing driving licences are widely used for identification purposes but there is no national identity card scheme.

Some countries, such as Denmark or Sweden, make widespread use of personal identification numbers issued at birth for all official transactions.

Over the years, MP's and the House of Lords have debated the idea of having identity cards on a number of occasions.

A recent opinion poll showed that most of the people questioned were initially in favour of an identity card scheme. Those questioned hoped that it would help to cut crime, but they were also concerned that the cards should not harm relations between the police and the public - especially with young people and ethnic minority groups.

Why now?

Not only has there been growing public and Parliamentary interest in identity cards but changes to three important official documents will raise the possibility of a UK identity card being introduced.

Photographs will be appearing on all UK driving licences and the licence itself is planned to be issued as a plastic card. Girocheques and order books are to be phased out for the payment of pensions and social security benefits at post offices and replaced with machine readable payment cards. The British visitors passport, valid for 12 months and issued at a rate of 2 million a year by post offices, is to be phased out at the end of the year.

The benefits of identity cards

Identity cards could enable people to dispense with bulky passports when travelling around Europe and possibly elsewhere, and they would be handy proof of identity for commercial transactions.

They would also help in combating certain crimes, particularly fraud, and simplify access to state services.

How useful they would be, however, would depend on the amount of information they contained; the number of people using them; public confidence in the card and the security of the system. The benefits would also need to be considered against the option of maintaining the status quo, that is without introducing identity cards.

Identity cards could be used for:

Travel: Identity cards could replace passports when you travel in Europe and possibly elsewhere.

Commercial transactions: You could use them to support cheques worth more than 50 pounds when you open a bank account and as proof of your identity for other business purposes.

Proof of your age: Young adults could find identity cards useful as proof of age when buying cigarettes and alcohol. Senior citizens would no longer need to produce their pension books to prove their eligibility for certain concessions. Emergency medical information: Identity cards could include details of your blood group, allergies, medical conditions needing special treatment, who to contact in the case of an accident and whether you want to be an organ donor.

Crime prevention: Cards could help the police find out who people are more quickly and would make crimes such as fraud involving impersonation harder to get away with. Credit card fraud cost the country 100 million pounds in 1994. They might also help householders to check a caller's identity, making it more difficult for bogus officials to trick their way into people's homes.

Public services: People often get annoyed when asked for the same information over and over again by public officials. Identity cards could help speed access to public services whilst at the same time making it harder for people to make duplicate claims or use fake identities.

Privacy

People would need to know that information or data held about them would be properly safeguarded and only used for specific purposes by the right people in accordance with data protection legislation. The success of any identity card scheme would depend on the confidence of those using it. There would have to be a balance between ensuring individual privacy but at the same time keeping any loopholes firmly shut against fraudsters and criminals.

Security checks

The process of issuing an identity card would need to be at least as secure as the present method of issuing British passports.

The cards themselves would include a photograph and the holder's signature. The card could also feature a 'hologram' or other security features.

A voluntary identity card

An identity card could be introduced on a purely voluntary basis for those people who wanted a convenient and reliable identity document. A voluntary identity card could be used as a travel document in Europe. It would be charged for and might cost between 10 and 15 pounds or possibly less if issued at the same time as a passport.

People already pay 18 pounds for a full passport and 21 pounds for a new driving licence. Without introducing a separate identity card it would be possible simply to treat the planned photographic driving licence as a de facto identity card. In other countries without identity cards Photographic driving licences are commonly used for identification purposes. A voluntary identity card might alternatively be combined with a driving licence, provided this was compatible with the European common format for driving licences. In addition non-drivers could be issued with a separate card purely for identification purposes.

Multi-purpose identity card

It could be possible to issue a single Government 'smart' card to cover a number of functions. For example, to include identity, travel, social security information and even an 'electronic purse'.

Separate functions would be isolated on the card's computer chip and people would only have to carry one card for a number of different applications.

There would need to be safeguards to ensure that only the right people could get at the information on the smart card.

Although technically feasible, a multi-purpose scheme like this would take a number of years to develop and introduce.

A compulsory identity card

As with the wartime scheme it would be possible to introduce a compulsory identity card covering the whole population.

The main questions would be whether in addition to being compulsory to obtain a card it would be necessary to carry it everywhere or to produce it within a certain number of days if required.

The more people who have identity cards, the more likely they are to be used and the benefits seen.

Whilst this might deter criminals or illegal immigrants, some people may argue that making a card compulsory is an unwarranted interference by the state. On the other hand, if identity cards proved useful and helpful then law-abiding citizens with nothing to hide may favour such a scheme.

Taking part in a full debate

The main options considered in the consultation paper are:

making no changes to current plans with no identity card introduced;

A separate voluntary identity card;

A photocard driving licence treated as an identity card;

A combined driving licence and identity card;

A multi-function Government card; A compulsory identity card.

Summary of questions

The main questions we want your views on are:

1.Is the time right to introduce identity cards;

2.Would an identity card costing less than a full passport be a convenient travel document for use within Europe;

3.Would it be valuable as proof of age;

4.Would it be helpful in banking and buying goods;

5.Should it include emergency medical information or organ donor details;

6.Would identity cards help to prevent crime;

7.Would identity cards help people to use public services and at the same time reduce fraud;

8.What would be the effect on privacy and data protection of an identity card scheme?;

9.Should a unique identification number be put on each identity card; 10.Should an identity card be machine readable;

11.Do we have lessons to learn from experience in other countries;

12.Should there be a separate voluntary identity/travel card;

13.Would it be better simply to treat a photographic driving licence as an identity card;

14.Should there be a combined driving licence/identity card;

15.Is there a case perhaps in the longer term for a multi-function Government card;

16.Should there be a compulsory identity card scheme.

We welcome your views. If you have any views about identity cards, as set out in this booklet, you should write to:

Home Office<br> F2 Division<br> Room 310<br> 50 Queen Anne's Gate<br> London SW1H 9AT.

Please send us your comments by 30 September 1995. Further copies of this booklet are available from the above address. This booklet is a summary of the issues raised in the Government's Consultation Paper 'Identity Cards - A Consultation Document' (Cm 2879) which is available from HMSO price œ8.00. (Telephone orders 0171 873 9090).