ID cards hit by price hike and security concerns

 

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By Matthew Sparkes

Posted on 11 Nov 2008 at 11:38

The Home Secretary has insisted that high street shops will be able to protect the biometric data they collect for ID card applications, despite the Government's poor track record regarding data losses.

Jacqui Smith reassured the public yesterday that the process of high street retailers taking biometric data would be secure, although privacy advocates remain skeptical.

Smith announced earlier this week that the collection of biometric data could become a £200 million industry within the UK, although anti-ID card campaigners believe that the process could be open to attack.

Only accredited firms will be allowed to collect the data, and the Government suggests that the need to protect their reputation would compel companies to keep data secure.

This mechanism failed to stop the Government losing data on millions of UK citizens last year, however.

Despite the criticism levelled against the ID card scheme, Smith claimed last week that she has people "coming up to me and saying that they don't want to wait that long" to get one of the cards.

Whether people will be as keen following the announcement of a price hike remains to be seen. The Home Secretary has admitted that ID cards have again jumped in price, and that each and every citizen will now have to pay £60 for the document.

Click here to read why the public "can't wait" to have their personal data lost by the Government