ID

A report released today by the London School of Economics on the government's plans to introduce biometric identity cards concludes that "The risk of failure in the current proposals is...[at] the point where the scheme should be regarded as a potential danger to the public interest and to the legal rights of individuals." (Executive Summary (PDF), p. 5) The government's proposals are "too complex, technically unsafe, overly prescriptive and lack a foundation of public trust and confidence." (p. 9)
The Bill gets its second reading in the House of Commons tomorrow.
Amidst claims and counter-claims about whether the government might be preparing to sell information from the central database to private companies to offset the costs of the scheme, Labour are facing the prospect of strong trade-union and back-bench opposition. The next few days could be interesting...