[Reader-list] News Items posted on the net on Multipurpose National Identity Cards-83

[Taha Mehmood]

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/07/17/stories/2006071700340900.htm


Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Monday, Jul 17, 2006 	


Continent going hi-tech on identity

Mohan Murti

Most European countries plan to switch to electronic cards (e-ID),
which incorporate electronic signatures and biometrics. A driver that
is pushing European governments into e-ID cards is the battle against
identity theft.
 It was Roland Moreno, a Frenchman, who three decades ago, invented
the Smart cards — plastic cards with microchips embedded in them. They
were ignored by the US and the UK, but spread across the Continent,
and the Far East, with massive roll-outs in banking, transport,
insurance and healthcare sectors over the last quarter century.

In modern Europe, the daily use of ID cards in railway stations and
post-offices is ubiquitous. If anything, they make the queues move
faster. Most view them with benign indifference.

One by one, over the last century, the governments of most European
Union member-states have taken the decision to introduce ID cards.

View from Europe

Over 400 million people across Europe, in 21 out of the 25 EU
member-states, use ID cards. In only five countries currently —
Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece and Spain — are ID cards
mandatory. Even in these nations, citizens do not have to carry them
at all times.

Only the Netherlands has made them obligatory since January as a
response to the threat of terrorism and illegal immigration. In
Austria, Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Sweden, Norway and
Switzerland they are voluntary though people tend to carry them
because they find them convenient.

In France, carrying ID card is voluntary, but is to become mandatory,
to enable combat terrorism and illegal immigration. In the EU only
Latvia, Denmark, Ireland and the UK have no ID cards.

European ID cards are as of now paper or simple plastic cards with a
magnetic strip. But all countries are planning to switch to electronic
cards (e-ID), which incorporate electronic signatures and biometrics —
fingerprints and/or facial and iris images.

There are external pressures on European countries to make their ID
cards electronic and biometric. The Schengen Treaty gives the right to
the citizens of the Schengen countries to travel between them without
passports. Most of these countries are upgrading their ID cards to
double as travel documents, a function that ID cards did not have
before.

One European standard, already in operation, is Eurodac, a pan-EU
system for checking up on asylum-seekers using fingerprints, so that
they do not claim asylum in more than one country at the same time.

This has already claimed successes in foiling fraudulent asylum
applications, but is understandably not much publicised.

Access to e-Transactions

Many European countries see in e-ID cards an extension of the
traditional policing purposes into something more positive: Giving the
citizen secure access to e-government transactions. Belgium allows
people to file tax returns only via their e-ID card.

A driver that pushes European governments into e-ID cards is the
battle against identity theft. They put their trust in the extra
security given by the combination of an electronic signature with two
biometric identifiers, face and fingerprint.

This, they hope, will protect the citizen from the spammers, scammers,
hackers out there in the Internet jungle.

Hi-Tech Plans

The British government has hi-tech plans for identity cards using the
biometric technology. A legislation proposes a system of ID cards that
will carry biometric identifiers in an embedded chip and be linked to
a secure national database to be created by 2010. The government is
working to make the ID cards compulsory for everyone living in the UK
by 2011-12.

The national database would hold personal information for each person
carrying the ID card, such as name, address and biometric information
including fingerprints and facial and iris scans.

Crucial is the database that will eventually be linked to the EU's
proposed registration programme. The European Commission has
introduced regulations to use fingerprints and facial images on visas
and resident permits for non-EU nationals.

The biometric data is then stored on national and EU databases that
are accessible through the Schengen Information System. The database
is the key aspect of the system. What the UK government is proposing
is quite unique and, of course, vast.

A number of European countries, including Belgium and Latvia, have ID
cards with links to information database, but those are used primarily
as an entry to e-services, whereas the British plan is primarily about
law and order.

The biometric ID cards are a powerful weapon in any government's fight
against identity fraud, illegal workers, illegal immigration, and
terrorism.

Technology

In Belgium, the system has been useful in fighting illegal
immigration. The police can just stop anyone on the street and ask for
their ID. If you're in the country and you can't produce a card or
some form of identity, then you're illegal. German officials also
believe that the recent inclusion of biometric data has enhanced
national security.

EU smart card

The ID card, the passport and the driving licence are being replaced
by smart cards. In Italy, the new "documents" look like credit cards.
Personal information is stored in an "optical memory strip" and in a
microchip. Individuals have the option of including health and
financial information on the card's digital record. The plan is that
the cards will have multiple functions.

The new Spanish model is billed as the world's first Internet ID card.
The first one will be issued early next year. By sticking the card
into a reader attached to a computer, people will be able to apply for
a passport from home or do other official business with the state or
local administration. In Germany, from 2007 onwards, new ID cards are
likely to include a digital photo of the holder as well as
fingerprints. In Belgium, a new card includes a smart chip with the
holder's digital signature and an authentication certificate. It will
let Belgians access many government services.

Safeguarding Privacy

Simply stated, Europe has done a fantastic job of safeguarding
privacy. One major difference is that unlike in the US, European
countries do not use anything akin to a Social Security number as a
ubiquitous identifier.

Navigation

We live in a time of global uncertainty with an increased threat from
international terrorism and organised crime. From recent experiences,
it is apparent that the enemies of India are within India. We,
therefore, must legislate and quickly introduce an identity cards
scheme for every Indian and a compulsory registration scheme for
non-Indians, to support the continuing fight against terrorism.

(The author, a former Europe Director of the CII, lives in Cologne,
Germany. Feedback may be sent to mohan.murti at t-online.de)