Identity Theft Check

The British Government’s decision to bring in a National Identity Scheme, involving the creation and distribution of ID cards to the population, was announced formally on the 17^{th of May, 2005, in the Queens Speech. The Identity Cards Act subsequently received royal assent the on the 30th of March, 2006, becoming law.}

The Government commenced the introduction of biometric residence permits for foreign nationals this year (2008), and they have said that they anticipate that they will issue the first British ID cards to citizens in 2009.

The Government has said that its reasons for pushing through the legislation and issue of ID cards are predicated upon the national interest.

They suggest that ID cards will:

- make it easier to make use of public services and ensure that only those eligible for them can access them

- help prevent identity fraud by ensuring that people are who they say they are (at banks, shops and to any civil authorities etc)

- help tackle immigration abuse, ‘people smuggling’, and illegal working in the UK

- disrupt the wider implications and uses associated with identity crime including terrorist activities

Over the next few articles we will take an in depth look at what the Government has said concerning British ID cards and the state system that will surround them. We will also look at some of the controversies surrounding ID cards and will try to ascertain just how useful they will be to the public at large.