Report - Guardian

74 The LSE Identity Project Report: June 2005told that almost no one provides an imprint. Using fingerprints as thebiometric identifier could provoke a negative response in Italy.” 178A decree from the Council of Ministers in February 2004 called for a smartcard‘national services card’, the aim of which is to boost internet-based e-governmentservices. It will contain: identification data of the holder (name, date of birth, place ofresidence, etc.), a unique number identifying the card, the issuance and validity data,and the name of the issuing administration. This information will be both written on thecard and stored on the card’s chip, which will also contain a basic digital signaturefunction and a container for qualified certificates. 179This smartcard is not the same as the electronic ID card. It does not contain aphotograph of the holder, and therefore cannot be valid as a proof of identity. However,it is instructive to look at the challenges that the Italians faced in adopting this new card.They identified three principal problems: firstly, the process of standardising thesmartcard without recourse to proprietary solutions; secondly, overcoming difficultiescaused by the fragility of the microchips on the card; thirdly, uncertainty as to whatinformation would be contained in the chip.The NetherlandsEvents in the Netherlands provide insight into the transformation of public opinion dueto concerns of crime and national security, and into the challenges of enforcement.Historically, the Dutch have been opposed to centralised government systems. In 1971there was widespread resistance to the census: 268,000 people refused to comply withthe census, despite threats of a substantial fine or a 14-day prison sentence. An evenlarger number of people entered false answers. Ten years later, a census was cancelledwhen polls indicated that resistance to it would be significant. Since then, theGovernment has pursued other forms of data collection, through the use of a nationalinsurance number and databases of the national bureau of statistics. The nationalinsurance number is used widely, and is even printed within passports.The idea of a mandatory ID card was circulated a number of times in the 1980s.Successive Ministers of Justice concluded that there was neither sufficient support norany proven need for mandatory carrying of the ID card.In January 2005, the Dutch Government implemented the ‘Extended CompulsoryIdentification Act’, requiring compulsory identification for all individuals over the ageof 14. Individuals are required to show identification to the police when asked, but arenot required to carry identification at all times.The law does not mandate a new identification card; the existing passport and driver'slicence will be used instead. All three are valid ID documents. Drivers are warned thatthey should also carry their passport or ID cards with them at all times, as their licencemay be confiscated after a car accident, leaving them vulnerable to fines if they arestopped.178 ‘A National Identity Card for Canada?’, Report of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration,October 2003.179 ‘Italy to start distribution of e-government services cards’, eGovernment News, May 12, 2004.