CBI wants clearer thinking on ID cards

UK businesses are calling for more clarity on the aims of the Home Secretary's plan for a national identity scheme.

Responding to the Home Office's consultation on the draft ID cards bill, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) says the proposed system is not robust enough to guarantee individuals' identity, and businesses are worried they will 'carry the can' if data held on the central registry proves inaccurate.

The CBI sees considerable benefits, in principle, from the introduction of an ID card, but identifies major weaknesses with the current proposal, says head of ebusiness Jeremy Beale, who wrote the group's response.

'The purpose of the scheme is not entirely clear,' Beale told Computing.

'It is to improve our ability to check identity, but it is not quite clear how it will be used and the methods for doing it are not clearly related to that goal.'

What most undermines the scheme is the government's refusal to accept liability for the accuracy of the information held on the registry at the heart of the scheme, says Beale.

'This is perhaps understandable when it has been made very unclear what information will be on there and there are even suggestions that citizens could put information on it themselves,' he said.

'You can see the reasoning for that, but it then changes the nature of the scheme, which goes back to the point that the government hasn't really decided the specific things they want it to be about.'

The points raised by the CBI echo the conclusions of the Commons Home Affairs committee investigation published earlier this month (Computing, 4 August). The committee also stressed the need for greater clarity around the exact purpose of the scheme - whether it be terrorism, immigration, fraud, or access to public services.