The Hindu Business Line : Continent going hi-tech on identity

Most European countries plan to switch to electronic cards (e-ID), which incorporate electronic signatures and biometrics. A driver that is pushing European governments into e-ID cards is the battle against identity theft.

It was Roland Moreno, a Frenchman, who three decades ago, invented the Smart cards — plastic cards with microchips embedded in them. They were ignored by the US and the UK, but spread across the Continent, and the Far East, with massive roll-outs in banking, transport, insurance and healthcare sectors over the last quarter century.

In modern Europe, the daily use of ID cards in railway stations and post-offices is ubiquitous. If anything, they make the queues move faster. Most view them with benign indifference.

One by one, over the last century, the governments of most European Union member-states have taken the decision to introduce ID cards.

View from Europe

Over 400 million people across Europe, in 21 out of the 25 EU member-states, use ID cards. In only five countries currently — Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece and Spain — are ID cards mandatory. Even in these nations, citizens do not have to carry them at all times.

Only the Netherlands has made them obligatory since January as a response to the threat of terrorism and illegal immigration. In Austria, Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland they are voluntary though people tend to carry them because they find them convenient.

In France, carrying ID card is voluntary, but is to become mandatory, to enable combat terrorism and illegal immigration. In the EU only Latvia, Denmark, Ireland and the UK have no ID cards.

European ID cards are as of now paper or simple plastic cards with a magnetic strip. But all countries are planning to switch to electronic cards (e-ID), which incorporate electronic signatures and biometrics — fingerprints and/or facial and iris images.

There are external pressures on European countries to make their ID cards electronic and biometric. The Schengen Treaty gives the right to the citizens of the Schengen countries to travel between them without passports. Most of these countries are upgrading their ID cards to double as travel documents, a function that ID cards did not have before.

One European standard, already in operation, is Eurodac, a pan-EU system for checking up on asylum-seekers using fingerprints, so that they do not claim asylum in more than one country at the same time.

This has already claimed successes in foiling fraudulent asylum applications, but is understandably not much publicised.

Access to e-Transactions

Many European countries see in e-ID cards an extension of the traditional policing purposes into something more positive: Giving the citizen secure access to e-government transactions. Belgium allows people to file tax returns only via their e-ID card.

A driver that pushes European governments into e-ID cards is the battle against identity theft. They put their trust in the extra security given by the combination of an electronic signature with two biometric identifiers, face and fingerprint.

This, they hope, will protect the citizen from the spammers, scammers, hackers out there in the Internet jungle.

Hi-Tech Plans

The British government has hi-tech plans for identity cards using the biometric technology. A legislation proposes a system of ID cards that will carry biometric identifiers in an embedded chip and be linked to a secure national database to be created by 2010. The government is working to make the ID cards compulsory for everyone living in the UK by 2011-12.

The national database would hold personal information for each person carrying the ID card, such as name, address and biometric information including fingerprints and facial and iris scans.

Crucial is the database that will eventually be linked to the EU's proposed registration programme. The European Commission has introduced regulations to use fingerprints and facial images on visas and resident permits for non-EU nationals.

The biometric data is then stored on national and EU databases that are accessible through the Schengen Information System. The database is the key aspect of the system. What the UK government is proposing is quite unique and, of course, vast.

A number of European countries, including Belgium and Latvia, have ID cards with links to information database, but those are used primarily as an entry to e-services, whereas the British plan is primarily about law and order.

The biometric ID cards are a powerful weapon in any government's fight against identity fraud, illegal workers, illegal immigration, and terrorism.

Technology

In Belgium, the system has been useful in fighting illegal immigration. The police can just stop anyone on the street and ask for their ID. If you're in the country and you can't produce a card or some form of identity, then you're illegal. German officials also believe that the recent inclusion of biometric data has enhanced national security.

EU smart card

The ID card, the passport and the driving licence are being replaced by smart cards. In Italy, the new "documents" look like credit cards. Personal information is stored in an "optical memory strip" and in a microchip. Individuals have the option of including health and financial information on the card's digital record. The plan is that the cards will have multiple functions.

The new Spanish model is billed as the world's first Internet ID card. The first one will be issued early next year. By sticking the card into a reader attached to a computer, people will be able to apply for a passport from home or do other official business with the state or local administration. In Germany, from 2007 onwards, new ID cards are likely to include a digital photo of the holder as well as fingerprints. In Belgium, a new card includes a smart chip with the holder's digital signature and an authentication certificate. It will let Belgians access many government services.

Safeguarding Privacy

Simply stated, Europe has done a fantastic job of safeguarding privacy. One major difference is that unlike in the US, European countries do not use anything akin to a Social Security number as a ubiquitous identifier.

Navigation

We live in a time of global uncertainty with an increased threat from international terrorism and organised crime. From recent experiences, it is apparent that the enemies of India are within India. We, therefore, must legislate and quickly introduce an identity cards scheme for every Indian and a compulsory registration scheme for non-Indians, to support the continuing fight against terrorism.

(The author, a former Europe Director of the CII, lives in Cologne, Germany. Feedback may be sent to mohan.murti@t-online.de)