Firms call for clarity on ID cards

With a new minister in charge of ID cards firms are looking for clear information on the technology

Experts have urged the new minister in charge of the government’s identity card project, Meg Hillier, to provide more information on the features and cost of the scheme to help businesses better plan their own identity management investments.

The Home Office minister’s promotion hands her something of a poisoned chalice, with the ID card procurement process having been repeatedly delayed and criticism mounting over the £50m the government has so far spent on consultants for the project.

Now the business community has added to her in-tray with calls for greater disclosure on the project’s timeline, costs and capabilities.

ID cards have been broadly supported by business leaders up to now on the grounds that a universal form of identification would deliver major cost and efficiency savings to firms’ own identity management processes and systems. However, a growing number of firms are becoming frustrated with repeated delays to the project and are calling on the government for a greater insight into how the cards and infrastructure will work.

“Greater clarity on the functionality is needed,” said Jeremy Beale, head of e-business policy at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). “At the moment, there is no way of knowing how much biometric information will be included in the system and how much interoperability there will be with existing private sector identity management systems.”

Beale added that once firms have this information and a clear timeline for the scheme they can start planning their own ID management projects.

Roger Dean of e-business association Eema argued that some firms interested in developing ID card systems for their staff or customers have already seen investment decisions disrupted by a desire to wait and see if they could integrate their systems with the national ID card technology. “Businesses want information on the project and that information just has not been forthcoming,” he argued. “Hopefully, Hillier will now be more open.”

Alan Rodger of analyst Butler Group added that firms also need further information on how much they will be charged to verify identities against the government database. “If that cost is too high, many businesses will decide it is not worth the hassle,” he warned.

However, a spokeswoman for the Home Office said the government would not be rushed into disclosing more project details. “With a project of this scale and complexity it is more important to do it right than do it quickly,” she argued.