Report - Guardian

The LSE Identity Project Report: June 2005 57the international dimensions to the Identity Card Bill: we must understand what othercountries are doing, and the way in which our actions will affect their conduct.Similar ID PlansIt is often said that the UK proposed ID-scheme is unprecedented. Although this is tosome extent true, a number of other countries have implemented, or are implementinglarge-scale digital identity systems with similar characteristics, some involving thecollection of biometrics. Issues arising in those countries may be of some relevancehere, just as their experiences with the technology may inform our own practice. It isimportant to note that not all identity systems are equal.Malaysia, 105 Singapore and Thailand are among the many countries establishing cardsystems. China is moving rapidly in this direction with the development of acompulsory ID database and card system, 106 although it abandoned the biometricelement after it concluded that the technology was unworkable with largepopulations. 107 The US military in Iraq is developing a similar system to that proposedin the Identity Card Bill in order to control access to Fallujah 108 and to track thosesuspected of being insurgents. 109 The UN High Commissioner for Refugees hasdeployed an iris biometric system to control refugee traffic across the Pakistan-Afghanborder. 110 The UAE also uses an iris system for border control. 111 Below, we will lookinto some systems in greater detail to understand the similarities and differences.BosniaIn 2002 the Government of Bosnia-Herzegovina moved to implement a national IDcard, one of the goals being to reinforce the country’s unity. It was to apply to allcitizens over the age of 16.The selected technology involves a card containing a bar-code, rather than a chip, plus aphotograph, signature, and a single fingerprint. All the data is kept on a nationalelectronic residents register, which is accessed over the internet.Surprisingly, the system setup only took six months. It involved a network of 160offices (including some mobile offices) to register residents, while the cards were issuedcentrally. Since then, 2.5 million ID cards and 1.5 million driving licences have beenissued at a cost of 20 million euros. 112105 Vericardsys Website information, http://www.vericardsys.com/MyKad.htm.106 ‘China starts to launch second-generation ID cards’, People’s Daily, March 30, 2004,http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200403/30/eng20040330_138863.shtml.107 ‘Fingerprints Missing From Chinese National ID Card’, Dan Balaban, Card Technology, September 11, 2003,http://www.cardtechnology.com/cgi-bin/readstory.pl?story=20030911CTDN261.xml.108 ‘Marine Corps deploys Fallujah biometric ID scheme’, John Lettice, The Register, December 9, 2004http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12/09/fallujah_biometric_id/.109 ‘US forces issue hi-tech ID cards for insurgent suspects’, Phil Sands, Gulf News, May 31, 2005.110 ‘UNHCR passes 200,000 mark in returnee iris testing’, UNHCR press release, October 10, 2003,http://www.un.org.pk/unhcr/press/Oct_10_03.htm.111 ‘Iridian Launches Expellees Tracking and Border Control System in UAE’, Biometric Tech News, March 19,2003, http://www.biometritech.com/enews/031903d.htm.112 ‘Bosnia-Herzegovina pioneers biometric ID card’, eGovernment News, December 3, 2003.