Effective e-government in identity crisis

The government's plan to provide all services online simply won't work unless it effectively introduces identity cards, say IT services suppliers.

"For an effective e-government programme we need an identity card," said Tim Conway, a director of the Computing Services and Software Association (CSSA).

Each citizen needs a single "identity" across all government services in order to be dealt with effectively, argues the CSSA. At present, different government departments use different methods to identify people, such as their National Insurance or NHS number.

Just as banks are moving to a 'single view' of the customer, so should government - and this effectively means an ID card, the association argues.

The Cabinet Office Performance and Innovation Unit (PIU) is due to publish a privacy and data report this Spring, which will consider the implications of data sharing across government and the possible need for some sort of universal identity card.

Although such a joined-up approach could create savings, it could also bring added risks. The PIU has warned that sharing inaccurate data could possibly lead government departments to misidentify individuals.

"Lots of European countries already have identity cards and are looking to shift these over to electronic systems," said Conway.

Data protection officials won't rule out identity cards. "We can see potential civil liberties problems, but we can also see the advantages for the co-ordinated delivery of care and services," said Iain Bourne, strategic policy manager at the Office of the Information Commissioner.

"There is no reason why it should not be done within the Data Protection Act," he added.

Also published in Computing