Identity cards offer Protection and Convenience

The ID card debate is often dominated by scare stories involving references to Orwell’s 1984 and accusations of a Big Brother government determined to pry into every aspect of our private lives.

As romantic as such notions are, they are somewhat removed from the reality of National Identity Scheme unveiled by the Home Secretary last week.

First, the card will protect the integrity of personal data. Identity fraud is a big problem in the UK and the ID card will reduce opportunities for fraudsters to exploit personal data for criminal purposes.

Secondly the card will offer convenience; convenience by enabling us to quickly prove who we are when accessing services in the public or private sector. This will affect a range of everyday services from opening bank accounts more securely to improving age checks at off-licences to help combat underage drinking.

Far from holding all sorts of personal information, the data held on the ID card will be little more than is already held on a passport. In addition the ID card (available for around £40 less than a passport) can be used for travel within the EU.

We should all be concerned about the potential for information to end up in the wrong hands. According to the British Crime Survey two percent of all adults in the UK were victims of identity fraud last year. This is an increase of a third on the year before. And it is taxpayers that pick up the cost of dealing with the problem – a problem that ID cards will reduce.

Arguments comparing the government to an all-seeing suppressor of personal freedoms make great stories but when the reality means that more of us will be able to access public services quicker and with less bureaucracy when changing addresses or querying tax returns I suspect more of us will come to see the advantages of doing away with present-day insecure, clandestine proofs of identity.