Thread: Tech-savvy criminals 'to trump UK ID cards'

Tech-savvy criminals 'to trump UK ID cards'

[http://www.contractoruk.com/news/002272.html]Contractor UK | September 6 2005[/url]

The Government’s bid to arm every Briton with an identity card has suffered a setback by new research claiming the biometric scheme will fail to stop identity fraud, and potentially lead to an increase in crime.

Researchers at the University of East Anglia say interviews with criminals prove that rather resign from their lifestyle in the face of new technology, fraudsters adopt new ways to use technologies to their advantage.

Emily Finch, the University’s criminologist, told the Association for the Advancement of Science how a shift from human vigilance to a reliance on new technology is failing to curb crime, and in some cases, is fuelling it.

At the heart of her concerns, is the “worrying assumption� that technical advances and new defences will provide the solution to identity theft, despite the study finding it “may actually aggravate the problem.�

According to the Daily Telegraph, the underlying worry of Ms Finch and her team is that the plan to use documents, such as birth certificates and driving licences to prove card applicants are who they say they are, is not up to scratch.

Her claims about the associated risks of advances in technology cited the recent introduction of ‘chip and pin,’ designed by the Government as a way to cut credit card fraud.

“Chip and pin has not stopped fraud or even reduced it,� said Dr Finch.

“It has altered the way people behave, and so fraudsters have just changed their strategies.�

According to the research, the focus for credit card fraudsters has simply shifted to acquiring the pin, a process Finch believes, “is very easy to do, if you look at the till.�

She added that checkout assistants who turn away when customers input their pin are less vigilante, and said she had been able to swap details with a male colleague to use each others’ cards to make purchases.

Under current proposals, British citizens would have to disclose details of bank accounts, proof of residency and address, birth certificate, passport number, NI number and a credit reference number to obtain an ID card.

The sheer amount of personal data required has angered the scheme’s most vocal critics, and prompted fresh criticism from anti-ID card lobbyists after the Bill received its second reading to a Government majority in June.

Over the weekend, Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary stoked the debate by claiming he was in charge of ‘Big Brother.’

He reportedly told the Eastern Daily Press that Brits already live in a “Big Brother society� and that it is his job to control it, branding civil liberties concerns “ridiculous,� and independent costing of the scheme “absurd.�

Phil Booth, national coordinator for anti-ID card lobbyists, NO2ID, said that the Home Secretary is confusing the British public with “doublespeak� and his arguments simply “don’t stand up.�

“This is an important admission,� said Mr Booth, referring to Mr Clarke’s comments.

“His stated intent to ‘control Big Brother society’ shows the Government’s real agenda: to monitor law-abiding citizens throughout their entire lives.

“There may indeed be a lot of databases containing our data, but they are quite rightly kept separate and constrained by law. Giving the Government control of all of them by creating a single index would be both unprecedented and dangerous. It is nothing like any other ID system in Europe.�

NO2ID also pointed out that despite Mr Clarke’s dismissal of independent pricing estimates of the biometric scheme, a reference to the LSE’s controversial report, the Home Office response “has been shown to contain fabricated figures.�

“Mr Clarke says concerns are just about cost, and we fully expect him to cap the price of the card itself,� said Mr Booth, speaking on behalf of 25,000 private members and 70 NGOs.

“But the money for the biggest IT project anywhere in the world still has to come from somewhere. This too is a diversion,� he added.

“Government wants to control your life: of course that will cost you money. But the ultimate cost of the scheme will be in freedom and privacy. And everyone will pay.�

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