Report - Guardian

The LSE Identity Project Report: June 2005 233Many of these costs are to be absorbed by the passport itself. This is demonstrated bythe increases in the cost per passport as predicted by the UKPS. Initially, the predictedcost of a passport in 2007-2008 was set to be £52.00, an increase from £33.00 in 2002-2003. 604 The following year’s corporate and business plan estimated the cost of apassport to be between £65.28 and £77.13 in 2007-08. 605 New legislation will berequired to provide a statutory basis for spending public money on setting up thescheme and charging higher fees to cover the costs of enrolment, issue and verificationservices. 606VerificationIn its documentation, the Government was vague on the issue of verification. It rarelystates in clear terms who will be required to verify the information provided by thesystem, whether the verification will be on-line or off-line, and who has access to themore detailed information such as the biometrics on the Register.Towards On-Line VerificationThere are three essential types of verification considered by the Government. The offlineverification involves the comparison of the face on the card and the human holdingthe card, while also ensuring that the card has not been tampered with. The second formof verification involves using smart card technology to either verify through the use of aPIN, or possibly a biometric verification involving a 1-to-1 check. The third form ofverification, the on-line check, involves the verification of the card and/or informationheld on the card with the national identity register.As time passed, the Government appeared more willing to rely on the real-timeverification. In its 2002 consultation document, the Government contended that themost basic use of the card would be a visual check. Cards would need anticounterfeitingmeasures, similar to those on banknotes, to add a further authenticitycheck. 607 This early approach allowed for further verification from a telephone-basedauthentication service with a limited access to the central register. If there were acommercial benefit for such a service, such as reducing fraud, the cost of the telephoneinquiry service could be recouped by, for example, using premium-rate phone lines. 608On-line internet access to the authentication service would also be considered. 609However, in later documents the card became a secondary instrument, and theGovernment increasingly stated its intention to rely on on-line access for verification.The Home Office is keen to implement a system of on-line checks on the basis they:“provide an optimum combination of simplicity, reliability and auditability”. However,603 Home Office – Identity Cards Bill Regulatory Impact Assessment, May 2005, paragraph 22604 ‘Confirming nationality and Identity and Enabling Travel’, page 30605 UKPS Corporate and Business Plans 2004 –2009, page 34606 Home Office – Identity Cards Bill Regulatory Impact Assessment, May 2005, paragraph 3(ii)607 Consultation Document, Section 4, 2002, paragraph 70.608 Consultation Document, Section 4, 2002, paragraph 73.609 Consultation Document, Section 4, 2002, paragraph 74.