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ID Cards & The National ID Register
News from around the world
  • Pilots boycott gov ID cards - Airline pilots have warned the government that they will not take part in their security theatre trial of ID cards at Manchester and City of London airports.
    Source: The Register [17th Feb 2009]
  • ID cards: Rely on 'visual check' as biometrics unreadable - The first UK ID cards will be of limited use for full biometric ID checks on foreign workers, with the government yet to reveal a timetable for the deployment of scanners capable of reading the cards.
    Source: Silicon.com [10th Dec 2008]
  • Holyrood rejects identity cards - The Scottish Parliament has voted against the UK Government's plans to introduce ID cards. MSPs backed a Scottish Government motion stating the scheme would not increase security or deter crime, while raising concerns about civil liberties. Scots Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing said the estimated £5bn needed for ID cards should be spent elsewhere.
    Source: BBC News [21st Nov 2008]
  • ID card costs rise - but is the security weakening? - Opponents of ID cards have renewed their attacks on the scheme, claiming security is being watered down even as the cost of the cards rises.Cards will only be checked against biometric details on the National Identity Register (NIR) in a "minority of cases" according to Home Office documents, prompting accusations it has been relegated to a "flash and go" card.
    Source: Silicon.com [11th Nov 2008]
  • Shops may take ID card biometrics - Supermarkets could be asked to take people's fingerprints as part of the government's identity card scheme. The Home Office is talking to retailers and the Post Office about setting up booths to gather biometric data.
    Source: BBC News [6th Nov 2008]
  • Foreign national ID card unveiled - The first identity cards from the government's controversial national scheme are due to be revealed. The biometric card will be issued from November, initially to non-EU students and marriage visa holders. The design - containing a picture and digitally-stored fingerprints - is a precursor to the proposed national identity card scheme. Critics say the roll-out to some immigrants is a "softening up" exercise to win over a sceptical general public. The card, to be unveiled by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, will also include information on holders' immigration status.
    Source: BBC News [25th Sep 2008]
  • Tests show e-passports can be cloned in minutes - New microchipped passports meant to prevent identity theft can be cloned in minutes, it has been claimed. The chips, which are implanted inside the document and must be scanned by a passport reader before the holder can travel, have serious security flaws. In an e-passport test, computer researcher Jeroen van Beek cloned the chips on two British passports, implanting a digital image of Osama bin Laden on to that of a baby boy and a suicide bomber on to a picture of a 36-year-old woman.
    Source: Evening Standard [6th Aug 2008]
  • Thales bags £18m deal for national ID card scheme - French defence systems engineering firm Thales has won the first contract for the UK's National Identity Scheme.Under the terms of the deal - signed today - Thales will work with the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) to design, build, test and operate the technology that will deliver the National Identity Register and support the issuing of identity cards from the second half of 2009, an IPS spokesman said,The four-year contract is worth £18m. Another contractor, yet to be named, will manufacture the cards.
    Source: Computer Weekly [2nd Aug 2008]
  • Nine NO2ID campaigners arrested at peaceful protest - On Monday (30th June) nine NO2ID campaigners were arrested after they staged a peaceful protest at an invitation only Home Office so-called "public consultation". NO2ID's protest was an entirely peaceful and lawful attempt to publicise the Home Office's shifty semi-secret proceedings that had been pre-arranged with STV news. There was no intention to frighten or inconvenience any member of the public. The nine were charged with breach of the peace and bound over for 30 days. One of those arrested had a 4 year old child with her. Another of those arrested was a 68 year old retired academic. It took nine hours for the last of the protesters to be released from police custody. John Welford, NO2ID Edinburgh co-ordinator and one of the nine arrested, in a letter to The Scotsman said: "What is it about the current Labour Government that it is unable to tolerate any criticism of its policies and actions?
    Source: IndyMedia [4th Jul 2008]
  • ID cards face fingerprint errors - Experts have warned the ID card scheme risks being derailed by mistakes in fingerprint matches.The £4.4bn National Identity Scheme's (NIS) preference for relying on fingerprint and facial recognition biometrics exposes the system to error, according to the independent Biometrics Assurance Group (BAG).
    Source: Silicon.com [30th Jun 2008]
  • Microscope-wielding boffins crack Tube smartcard - Security researchers say they've found a way to crack the encryption used to protect a widely-used smartcard in a matter of minutes, making it possible for them to quickly and cheaply clone the cards that are used to secure office buildings and automate the collection of mass transportation fares.
    Source: The Register [12th Mar 2008]
  • MoD lost 11,000 military ID cards - A new data security row has hit the Ministry of Defence after it emerged that an "extraordinary" 11,000 military ID cards have been lost or stolen in the past two years.
    Source: The Telegraph [12th Mar 2008]
  • Heathrow airport first to fingerprint - Millions of British airline passengers face mandatory fingerprinting before being allowed to board flights when Heathrow’s Terminal 5 opens later this month.
    Source: The Telegraph [8th Mar 2008]
  • Home Secretary in ID card gaffe - Security experts have rubbished claims by the Home Secretary that databases for the controversial National ID Cards will be "unhackable" because they are being kept off the public internet.In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Thursday, Jacqui Smith said "none of the [ID card] databases will be online, so it won't be possible to hack into them". Experts, such as GCHQ accredited penetration testing firm SecureTest, said the Home Secretary's claims demonstrate complete lack of understanding of the security issues affecting databases.
    Source: The Register [7th Mar 2008]
  • UK Government rethink on identity cards plans - The government has set out changes to its planned identity scheme - including allowing people to use passports or driving licences as ID cards. Most people will not now have to give their fingerprints when getting a passport until 2011/12 - three years later than had previously been planned. And plans to force passport applicants to get an ID card have been dropped. The exception will be airport and other workers in security-sensitive jobs who will need an ID card from 2009.
    Source: BBC News [6th Mar 2008]
  • EU plans to require biometrics of all non-European visitors - All non-Europeans would need to submit biometric data before crossing Europe's frontiers under sweeping European Union proposals to combat illegal migration, terrorism and organized crime that are to be outlined this week.
    Source: IHT [11th Feb 2008]
  • Companies abandon ID card project - Two prominent companies have pulled out of the procurement process for the controversial multi-billion pound identity card programme amid growing concerns that the government is planning to delay the roll-out of the project.
    Source: Financial Times [24th Jan 2008]
  • FBI wants instant access to British identity data - Americans seek international database to carry iris, palm and finger prints. Senior British police officials are talking to the FBI about an international database to hunt for major criminals and terrorists.
    Source: The Guardian [15th Jan 2008]
  • ID profiles worth far more than credit card details to crooks - Identity profiles are worth far more on the digital underground than credit card details.
    Source: The Register [24th Nov 2007]
  • Now for ID cards - and the biometric blues - Tsutomu Matsumoto is a Japanese mathematician, a cryptographer who works on security, and he decided to see if he could fool the machines which identify you by your fingerprint. This home science project costs about £20.
    Source: The Guardian [24th Nov 2007]
  • The True Cost of ID Cards - The true cost of ID cards are not just to the taxpayer's purse but go much deeper and have a truly disturbing impact, threatening our way of life forever. You will not only pay financially but it will also cost you personal privacy and possibility your identity.
    Source: RINF Alternative News [13th Sep 2007]
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