28 May 2008

This evening a BBC report showed how a plausible forgery of Jacqui Smith’s identity documents, including a driving license and utility bills, could be bought off the internet for a few pounds[1]. NO2ID [2] says that this is just a hint of the chaos that lies ahead if the government proceeds with the nationalisation and centralisation of all personal identification in the Home Office.

Only three weeks ago an independent panel of experts heavily criticised the lack of security planning and basic responsibility in handling personal information (”data governance”) at the heart of the National Identity Scheme, and warned of the fundamental dangers of collecting information together. The ‘Independent Scheme Assurance Panel Annual Report for 2007′ [3] said (p9):

“The panel advised that the Scheme would benefit from a robust and transparent operational data governance regime and a clear data architecture. These must recognise the value of data and the risks associated with inappropriate access to and use of data. The panel advises there would be benefits to the programme in clearly setting out a rigorous analysis of these risks and the strategies and plans to address them.” [emphasised in original]

And (p15),

“There are also areas of risks associated with the operation of the Scheme which the Panel suggests should receive more analysis. For example, based on the likelihood that the Scheme will aggregate a lot of valuable data, there is the risk that its trusted administrators will make improper use of this data.”

This endorses the clearer warnings of critics as far back as 2005 about “massive identity fraud on a scale beyond anything we have seen before.” (Jerry Fishenden of Microsoft) [4].

Guy Herbert, General Secretary of NO2ID said:

The obsession with identity is beginning to eat itself. The Government has been warned time and again by experts that its megalomaniac desire to stack every personal fact about everyone in Britain onto a Home Office hard disc is madness. It carries on with its eyes shut and its ears stopped.

“Who but a minister could fail to grasp that, far from preventing fraud, nationalising identity will make the consequences of ‘identity
theft’ far worse. The more we have to rely on official documents, and the more data about us that is collected for them, the more powerful
fraudsters and forgers become. Real chaos is on the way unless the National Identity Scheme is stopped.

-ENDS-

Notes for editors

1) ‘Probe exposes fraudulent ID trade’ BBC News 28 May 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7424238.stm

2) NO2ID is the UK-wide non-partisan campaign against ID cards and the database state. See http://www.no2id.net/dbstate.php for a list of
‘database state’ initiatives that NO2ID is actively opposing.

3) The panel consists of top IT experts from large commercial concerns such as Tesco:
http://www.ips.gov.uk/identity/downloads/ISAP_Annual_Report.pdf
See also NO2ID press release: “Buried news: Government advisors savage ID scheme” 7 May 2008 – for more discussion
http://www.no2id.net/news/pressRelease/release.php?name=Buried_news

4) Microsofts UK NTO writing in the Scotsman 18 November 2005
http://ntouk.com/archives/2005/Oct/18.10.2005.htm

23 May 2008

The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) today announced that all five of the suppliers still left in the procurement race are to form a “Strategic Supplier Group” to deliver the UK’s National Identity Scheme [1]. Three shortlisted suppliers – Accenture, BAE Systems and Steria – had already pulled out, citing political and commercial reasons [2].

Privacy and civil liberties campaigners NO2ID [2] called the move “the set-up for a carve-up” and demanded the immediate publication of all documents the government has kept secret, using the excuse that it needed to do so to get “best value” from the market.

Phil Booth, NO2ID’s National Coordinator, said:

Far from the competitive process promised to Parliament, this is the set-up for a carve-up. The IPS is clearly just making it up as it goes along.

Not enough bidders for a proper competitive process? – why bother? No clear specification, and independent experts saying the fundamentals aren’t in place? – who cares? Can’t even quantify the benefits? – spend billions anyway!

Now that the jobs have been parcelled out, to a cosy consortium, perhaps all the financial and technical reviews of the ID scheme could be published so that the taxpayer can see just what sort of pig in a poke he has bought.

-ENDS-

Notes for editors:
1) “ID cards: all five remaining suppliers through to next round”, VNU Net, 23/5/08 -
http://www.vnunet.com/computing/news/2217420/id-cards-five-remaining

2) Government insiders suggest the real reason why Accenture pulled out was because IPS “still haven’t decided what it is they really want”. See Ideal Government, 22/1/08 -
http://www.idealgovernment.com/index.php/blog/never_too_late_to_get_to_the_right_starting_point/

3) NO2ID is the UK-wide non-partisan campaign against ID cards and the database state, and is affiliated to by the NUJ. See
http://www.no2id.net/dbstate.php for a list of ‘database state’ initiatives that NO2ID is actively opposing.

7 May 2008

Two additional documents [1] published by the Home Office on the same day as its obscure ten-year cost estimate [2] identify major problems with the delivery of the scheme. Gung-ho statements by the Home Secretary and other ministers conceal the official judgment that the scheme is in chaos. This follows only a month after the final release of the report by Sir James Crosby [3] originally commissioned by Gordon Brown as Chancellor. Crosby offered a list of 10 fundamental principles for a national identity scheme to conform to, all of which are already being broken by the current scheme [4].

Now the report by the government-appointed Independent Scheme Assurance Panel, a group comprising senior information managers from highly successful organisations [5], reveals:

1) Almost five years after it was first mooted, the ID scheme still lacks a “robust and transparent operational data governance regime and clear data architecture” (3.1). The panel indicates that this should be in place *before* procurement proceeds, but key suppliers were shortlisted months ago;

2) Despite passing the Act and spending over £100 million of public money, the scheme still has not received the “cross-Government sponsorship or take-up” it requires. (3.3, Identity management within Government) The ministerial committee dealing with this was disbanded in early 2007 (ibid.), and it now seems that a select group of officials in the IPS itself are driving the whole programme;

3) Though the tender process is supposedly well advanced, requirements for ICT systems, processes and operations have still to be adequately specified and the rationale for key design decisions is unclear (3.4, Programme Priorities).

4) Though “the integrity of the Scheme and trust in it are essential… it will never be free of errors” (3.7, citizen protection) and “based on the likelihood that the Scheme will aggregate a lot of valuable data, there is the risk that its trusted administrators will make improper use of this data” (ibid.);

Phil Booth, NO2ID’s [6] National Coordinator, said:

No specification, no departmental buy-in, no rationale for key design decisions – and no ministerial control. This is official confirmation that the Identity and Passport Service is a runaway train.
As we pointed out back in January [7], Gordon Brown should pay attention to the detail. Ministers are rubber-stamping a consultant-driven scheme of epic proportions.

-ENDS-

Notes for editors:

1) The ‘Independent Scheme Assurance Panel Annual Report for 2007′: http://www.ips.gov.uk/identity/downloads/ISAP_Annual_Report.pdf and a
‘Report on key projects implemented in 2007′: http://www.ips.gov.uk/identity/downloads/IPS-report-on-key-projects-implemented-2007.pdf

2) http://www.ips.gov.uk/identity/downloads/IPS-Identity-Cards-Scheme-Cost-Report-May2008.pdf

3) The Crosby review, ‘Challenges and Opportunities in Identity Assurance’:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/6/7/identity_assurance060308.pdf

4) See analysis in NO2ID release, 7 March: “Crosby sets out 10 ID principles – Home Office scheme breaks all of them”
http://www.no2id.net/news/pressRelease/release.php?name=Crosby_10

5) http://www.ips.gov.uk/identity/downloads/ISAP_Annual_Report.pdf
See 1.4 for the credentials of members.

6) NO2ID is the UK-wide non-partisan campaign against ID cards and the database state, and is affiliated to by the NUJ.
See http://www.no2id.net/dbstate.php for a list of ‘database state’ initiatives that NO2ID is actively opposing.

7) NO2ID: ‘Brown “Charging ahead with ID” – but not in charge’, 23/1/08
http://www.no2id.net/news/pressRelease/release.php?name=Charging_not_in_charge

For further information, or for immediate or future interview, please
contact Phil Booth (National Co-ordinator, national.coordinator@no2id.net) on 07974 230 839,
Guy Herbert (General Secretary, general.secretary@no2id.net) on 07956 544 308, or
Michael Parker (Press Officer, press.officer@no2id.net) on 07773 376 166.