Home secretary reveals early ID-card demand
Kablenet.com
Published: 19 Dec 2008 13:21 GMT
Over 1,000 people have made early requests for a national ID card, according to figures from the Home Office.
Home secretary Jacqui Smith has said that 1,142 messages from the public to the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) between November 2006 and October 2008 were classified as 'wants an ID card'. This made ID-card requests "by far the most common subject matter", Smith said on Thursday, in response to a parliamentary question from Liberal Democrats home affairs spokesperson Chris Huhne.
The IPS received 3,073 items of correspondence on the scheme between 1 November, 2006, and 31 October, 2008. Smith told Huhne that the IPS did not sort the correspondence according to support for or opposition to the scheme.
Smith also said that the method and cost of a web-based system allowing people to check their details on the National Identity Register has not yet been decided.
"It is intended that a web-based service will be introduced as identity cards begin to be introduced in high volumes, to permit an individual to check their core identity information on the National Identity Register," Smith said, suggesting a date of 2011 or 2012, when enrolling on the register is set to become compulsory for those applying for or renewing passports.
"This will be subject to secure remote authentication of the individual in question, so that we are assured that it is the individual in question that is making the request. We are currently investigating the possible alternatives available to achieve this, but no final method has been decided," she said, in response to another parliamentary written question from Conservative shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve.
Smith added that the IPS is considering various system designs from bidders, based on its stated requirements. "They can propose a number of different technical and security solutions to deliver such requirements," she said.
"As a result, the detailed security measures that will be put in place in order to meet the appropriate security standards will be dependent on the final design proposed by the successful bidder. It is not possible to identify the specific cost of providing this service separately at this point in time," Smith added.
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