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LONDON (Reuters) – The Home Office needs to explain why both an ePassport and identity card are needed despite them holding similar information and costing billions of pounds, a group of MPs said on Wednesday.
Identity cards, which ministers say are needed in the fight against terrorism, illegal immigration and organised crime, are due to be rolled out from 2009 at an expected cost of 5 billion pounds over the next decade.
The second generation of ePassports, which will meet international requirements, are set to be issued from 2009 at a cost of hundreds of millions of pounds.
Edward Leigh, chairman of parliament’s public accounts committee, said the government must justify the use of both, and at least reduce overlaps.
“Most of us are going to have to have both an ePassport and an identity card,” he said.
“The Home Office needs to explain why an ePassport could not serve both purposes. At the very least, the Identity and Passport Service should reduce areas of overlap as the identity card project progresses and make sure that the combined fee for the two documents is minimised.”
The second generation of the ePassport will include a person’s facial biometrics as well as finger prints, while identity cards, which all UK residents, as well as foreign nationals residing in the country for more than three months, will need, will contain finger prints and chip and PIN information.
Plans for iris recognition have been shelved for the moment.
The combined cost to an individual of an ePassport and identity card is expected to be 93 pounds, though no fee has been set yet.
The current cost of a passport is 72 pounds.
An Identity and Passport Service (IPS) spokesman said in a statement: “By developing common systems and common application processes to support both second biometric passports and ID cards we are ensuring best value for money. Indeed we are procuring a common biometric database for immigration, passport and identity purposes.”
He went on to say that an identity card, unlike an ePassport, would allow an individual to confirm his or her identity in a convenient way using chip and PIN technology.
The committee of MPs was also concerned that the manufacturer’s warranty for the ePassports was for only two years, even though the passports are valid for 10 years.
But the IPS has said in the past that it is confident the chip will last 10 years and the decision to go for a two-year warranty was purely economic.
If the ePassport stops working, it will be replaced at no cost to the owner, on condition that it has not been mistreated.
It’s not like MP’s to ask useful questions, that’s suspect in itself :shock:
I cant actually see why they would ask other than to cash in on votes from the paranoid and illegal entities in society as the answer is pretty obvious isnt it?
A passport is not only a form of ID but is also needed to move from country to country, its also hardly a teensy weensy easily carried item. So although it COULD be used just as an ID there are also problems with it being used as such including the wear and tear it would then have to endure, the awkwardness of carrying it on a regular basis especially in hot weather where people would want to be barely clad not to mention the ridiculous cost and inconvenience it would cause if lost, damaged or stolen as it would mean that person would be unable to leave the country if they had a holiday planned for one
An ID card tho is small enough to fit in a wallet, pocket or purse, it would stand up far better to the wear and tear of daily living and carrying and if lost, damaged or stolen a week or month before a holiday wouldnt cause a problem
So I really cant see why politicians are pretending to be so confuddlicated over this issue other than to harvest votes, because 5 billion and a few hundred million is a splash in a very big ocean compared to what the government wastes themselves that has no benefit to anyone whatsoever
Whereas this expenditure at least has SOMETHING that is gained in return
I cant help but wonder where the market for these id cards will lie, will we find that if we have an id card stolen ? where will it end up ? could someone in say , poland buy it ? and possibly my entire details. will they be able to get details from it. and use my id for anything they want. we can be certain that as fast as the government can create safety reasons for them the bad guys will find a reason to use them ?
On that basis Waspish, you shouldn’t have any identification at all just in case you’re stupid enough to lose it and the bad guys get all your personal info.
youve got a point there matey thats why i never carry id with me along with credit cards and bank details, you.just never know who youre stood next to nowadays, but getting back to topic im sure there will be toerags already planning how to steal our id and access to credit etc and another kind of id will just give them more things to use ???
I have no moral objection to ID cards or e-passports but I do worry about the reliability of the technology, the competence of the bureaucrats who will oversee implementation and finally the cost of any such scheme.
Why have the new epassports got antenas fitted to them to hear what we say?
Wrap your new epassport in tin foil, put in clean crisp bag, fold it up, and put it at the back of the clothes draw you rarely use.
And dont forget where you put it :lol:
Only the ID cards issued to BNP supporters have this added feature so that the Authorities can monitor them 24/7.
Be afraid Emma …. be very afraid!!!
…to be educated, then they steal policy.
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