Commissioner Critical of ID Cards Bill
The Information Commissioner has once again criticised the ID Cards Bill, and once again his criticisms centre on the National Identity Register. eGov monitor reports:
The Information Commissioner believes the measures set out in the National Identify Cards Bill go “well beyond” the requirements to set up a secure, reliable and trustworthy ID card system.
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The development of the Register and its operation is considered by Mr. Thomas as another step towards a “surveillance society” that may lead to “unwarranted intrusion into individual’s lives by government and other public bodies.” He also expressed concern over potential future use of the system as outlined in the bill, which allows for potential function creep into “unforeseen and perhaps unacceptable areas of private life.”
The Out-law web site also reports the Information Commissioner’s concerns, along with renewed criticism from the Law Society, published in a report from the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights:
The Law Society in a statement published with the JCHR Report states: “We believe that the Bill provides Government with unnecessary and undesirably wide powers to record, retain and disseminate personal data, and do not believe that adopting an identity card scheme is a proportionate response to the challenges which the Government is trying to address”.
It concludes, “In addition, we believe adopting the scheme would increase the administrative burden on those delivering public services and put a heavy financial burden on government and members of the public”.
