Watchdog Warns Of Big Brother Style System If Plans Are Implemented

Financial Times | June 28 2005

Tony Blair's plans for identity cards risk creating a Big Brother-style system of checks in which people are subjected to "unnecessary and disproportionate intrusion" into their privacy, the data protection watchdog has said, writes Christopher Adams.

The warning, from Richard Thomas, information commissioner, was at the centre of growing criticism about the ID cards scheme that included fears that the cost of the cards could spiral. Mr Blair rejected the attacks, saying he was confident the public backed them in principle. The prime minister's controversial ID cards bill is expected to pass its second Commons reading today, despite likely opposition from between 10 and 20 Labour MPs as well as the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.

Charles Clarke, home secretary, is also investing a considerable and unprecedented effort into winning over nine Northern Irish MPs from the Democratic Unionist party. A DUP official said talks had been held with ministers in the run-up to the vote and would continue today. The party's backing would eliminate any risk of defeat.

"In principle, we're in favour, but no final decision has been taken on how to vote," the official said. "There are issues surrounding the bill on which we want clarification." Ministers met Labour leftwingers last night to try to dissuade them from opposing the government in a vote seen as the first test of Mr Blair's smaller majority.

The government can expect a rougher ride in the Lords, where opposition peers who threw out the legislation before May's general election are certain to try to block it again.

Yesterday the prime minister defended the ID cards scheme against independent warnings of spiralling costs, legal problems and unnecessary intrusion.

Mr Thomas warned that the extent of the information retained on a proposed national identity register was "unwarranted and intrusive". He cited the obligation on people to tell the government all the addresses where they had lived, arguing it was difficult to see the relevance of this information. Other initiatives such as closed circuit television surveillance, automatic number-plate recognition and congestion charging were serving to build a detailed picture of people's lives.

The creation of this detailed data trail of individuals' activities was "particularly worrying". The commissioner was "concerned each development puts in place another component in the infrastructure of a surveillance society".

Meanwhile the London School of Economics published a report suggesting that the cost of ID cards would vastly exceed the government's £5.8bn projection. It said the total cost would be between £10.6bn and £19.2bn, and put a median cost on the scheme of £14.5bn, equivalent to £230 per card.

It identified "10 key uncertainties" over the project, including security concerns, how often the cards would need renewing, and how difficult it would be to get people to use the scheme, which could breach European human rights law.

Mr Blair rejected the findings, telling reporters that "some of the figures bandied around . . are absolutely absurd".