ID cards to arrive in 2012

Leaked document suggests mass enrollment two years later than planned

Andrea-Marie Vassou, Computeract!ve 23 Jan 2008

UK citizens will receive their compulsory national ID card two years after the proposed date, according to documents leaked to the Conservative party.

The National Identity Scheme Delivery Strategy document, which is marked as “restricted”, was prepared for the Treasury in December last year. It sets out a “high level roll out strategy" for the National Identity Scheme.

The document notes that "Borders Phase I", in which ID cards will be distributed to foreign nationals, will go ahead as planned later in 2008. Those employed in "positions of trust", such as workers at airports, could be enrolled in 2009.

However, the "Borders Phase II" plan, under which other UK citizens will be enrolled, will now begin in 2012, two years after the original 2010 deadline.

When contacted by Computeractive, the Identity and Passport Service said that it would not comment on leaked documents.

However, a representative for the organisation said: "We have always said that the scheme will be rolled out incrementally. As stated in the strategic plan for the National Identity Scheme published in December 2006, we will begin issuing ID cards for foreign nationals this year and the first ID cards for British citizens in 2009.

“We will make further announcements about the rollout of ID cards in due course", he added.

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis blamed the alleged delay on recent high-profile Government data losses, saying that: "There are clear flaws in the whole Government strategy on data security, as demonstrated by the child benefit discs scandal. This document suggests the whole scheme is being rethought."

Security expert Richard Clayton agreed, attributing the delay to the Government's recent “incompetent handling of private data”. Becky Hogge, director at the the Open Rights Group told Computeractive: “It would come as no surprise if the Government was to reconsider its plans for ID cards given its recent record on data protection.”

This includes the recent loss of child benefit data from HM Revenue and Customs, and this week’s announcement of the theft of three Ministry of Defence notebook computers that collectively contained the details of 600,000 people.

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