Report - Guardian

34 The LSE Identity Project Report: June 2005MPs. After a couple of weeks, Stand collected 5,031 emailed responses, of which 96.5percent were opposed and 1 percent of responses were in favour of ID cards. 39 Yet in itssummary of the individual responses to that consultation, the Home Office claimed that61 percent of responses had been positive, apparently counting the Stand responses as asingle “inspired” response arising from an “organised campaign”. 40Many of the same organisations contributed comments and/or testimony to all threeformal consultations, often making similar points. Many of these are not reflected in thefinal legislation. For example, a number of the technical organisations such as the ITindustry trade association Intellect, the British Computer Society, and independenttechnical experts have warned that the cost and success of such an extensive IT projectcannot be controlled without a careful specification of the system. Some remainconcerned that the final legislation still lacks detail in this area.It is not only technical experts who have complained about a lack of detail. TheConfederation of British Industry said in testimony:“This is a step towards tackling identity theft, which is an increasingthreat to companies and consumers, estimated to be costing £1.3billion a year. However, firms have concerns about the potentialimpact of a national identity registry. They want to know more aboutthe types of data it will store and how the government will assureaccuracy and integrity of information. So far plans have beenvague.” 41In its August 2004 response to the draft bill, the CBI also said,“…there is doubt as to whether the actual details of the schemeenvisaged by the Government provide a means of authenticatingidentity that is sufficiently robust, refined and systematic that it canand will be trusted and actively supported by individuals, governmentdepartments and businesses. The key area that needs to be clarified bythe government in this regard relates to the national registry, the datathat it will contain and the way in which data on it will be sharedamongst government departments and businesses. Furthermore, theextent to which the proposed scheme can benefit rather thanundermine procedures for information security and identityauthentication already developed by business remains unclear.39 2.5 percent of these emails were suspected as duplicates and discarded.40 ‘Home Office 'ignored opposition to ID cards', Ros Taylor, The Guardian, November 21, 2003, available athttp://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,11026,1090273,00.html.41 CBI Statement, available athttp://www.cbi.org.uk/ndbs/press.nsf/0363c1f07c6ca12a8025671c00381cc7/57642043e78ce9c28025700400325ab8?OpenDocument.