Clegg: 'scrap' ID card scheme

MPs have called on the Government to “scrap” its ID card plans, saying a year of disastrous data breaches shows it cannot be trusted to handle the public's personal information.

Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “The time has come for ministers to admit that this scheme is doomed to be an expensive failure, they should scrap the ID card scheme now. "

The Conservative Party has also pointed out that the Government would find it hard to gain the public’s trust when it came to ID Cards.

Thinktank Demos has estimated that the average British adult unknowingly has their personal details recorded on around 700 databases with different organisations.

Towards the end of last year, millions of people found that the security surrounding some of these databases were severely compromised. A number of Government departments, including Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, the DVLA and the NHS had to admit that they have lost either notebook PCs or CDs that contained people's personal information, including names and addresses.

The latest breach came to light this week when Ruth Kelly, the Transport Secretary, admitted yet another loss. The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) had reported the disappearance of a key hard disk in May 2007 by Iowa-based Pearson Driving Assessments, one of its external contractors.

This contained the names, postal addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses of three million Britons who had applied to take a driving theory test between September 2004 and April 2007.

Phil Booth, national co-ordinator at Anti ID card group No2ID, described the Government as “a leaky sieve” when it came to data retention. He said as a result it would be “increasingly ludicrous” for it to proceed with the ID card scheme.

Information Commissioner Richard Thomas warned that more losses were likely to come to light over the coming months.

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis told Computeractive: “People will find it truly bizarre that the Prime Minister has refused to stop and think again about the national ID cards register."

The DSA will not inform the individuals whose names are on the disc; those concerned can call the specially set up helpline 0800 0150286.