National identity cards are in the news. While paper ID documents have been used in some countries for a long time, today's rapid growth features high-tech IDs with built-in biometrics and RFID chips. Both long-term trends towards e-Government and the more recent responses to 9/11 have prompted the quest for more stable identity systems. Commercial pressures mix with security rationales to catalyze ID development, aimed at accuracy, efficiency and speed. New ID systems also depend on computerized national registries. Many questions are raised about new IDs but they are often limited by focusing on the cards themselves or on "privacy." Playing the Identity Card shows not only the benefits of how the state can "see" citizens better using these instruments but also the challenges this raises for civil liberties and human rights. ID cards are part of a broader trend towards intensified surveillance and as such are understood very differently according to the history and cultures of the countries concerned.

New ID card systems are proliferating around the world. These may use digitized fingerprints or photos, may be contactless, using a scanner, and above all, may rely on computerized registries of personal information. In this timely new contribution, David Lyon argues that such IDs represent a fresh phase in the long-term attempts of modern states to find stable ways of identifying citizens. New ID systems are “new” because they are high-tech. But their newness is also seen crucially in the ways that they contribute to new means of governance. The rise of e-Government and global mobility along with the aftermath of 9/11 and fears of identity theft are propelling the trend towards new ID systems. This is further lubricated by high technology companies seeking lucrative procurements, giving stakes in identification practices to agencies additional to nation-states, particularly technical and commercial ones. While the claims made for new IDs focus on security, efficiency and convenience, each proposal is also controversial. Fears of privacy-loss, limits to liberty, government control, and even of totalitarian tendencies are expressed by critics. This book takes an historical, comparative and sociological look at citizen-identification, and new ID cards in particular. It concludes that their widespread use is both likely and, without some strong safeguards, troublesome, though not necessarily for the reasons most popularly proposed. Arguing that new IDs demand new approaches to identification practices given their potential for undermining trust and contributing to social exclusion, David Lyon provides the clearest overview of this topical area to date.

The Committee's report examines the Government's proposals for the introduction of an identify cards scheme (Cm 6020, ISBN 0101602022) published in November 2003, and the draft Identity Cards Bill (Cm. 6178, ISBN 0101617828) published in April 2004 for consultation. Issues discussed include: a brief history of identity cards in the UK; international developments including EU standards and schemes in Sweden, Germany, Canada and Australia; the aims of the Government's proposals in relation to preventing illegal working, immigration abuse, organised crime, identity fraud and terrorism; opposition to ID cards on grounds of principle and in practical terms; the 'voluntary' stage of the scheme; Parliamentary scrutiny and concern over 'function creep'; security issues; biometrics; and specific clauses of the draft Bill. The Committee draws 91 conclusions and recommendations, and judges overall that an ID scheme could make a significant contribution to tackling crime and terrorism, but its introduction carries clear risks, both for individual citizens and in practical implementation. Concerns are raised over the lack of clarity and definition in key elements of the proposed scheme, as well as the lack of openness in the procurement process. These concerns must be addressed if it is to secure public confidence and to work in practice.

This publication sets out the responses to the Home Office consultation paper, issued in April 2004 (Cm 6178, ISBN 0101617828), which set out the text of the Governments draft Identity Cards Bill, along with accompanying explanatory notes, regulatory and race equality impact assessments. Responses to the consultation exercise, which ended in July 2004, are given from the general public and a wide variety of organisations, including legal bodies, local government, trade unions, organisations representing ethnic minorities, gypsies and travellers and refugees, police organisations, business organisations, and the Information Commissioner. The document also sets out the findings from other research, focus groups and external events undertaken to gauge public attitudes towards the Governments proposals for identify cards. The Governments draft Bill will now be reviewed in the light of these consultation responses, as well as the recommendations made by the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee in their report (HCP 130-I, session 2003-04, ISBN 0215019059) published in July 2004.

The advance of identification technology-biometrics, identity cards, surveillance, databases, dossiers-threatens privacy, civil liberties, and related human interests. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, demands for identification in the name of security have increased. In this insightful book, Jim Harper takes readers inside identification-a process everyone uses every day but few people have ever thought about. Using stories and examples from movies, television, and classic literature, Harper dissects identification processes and technologies, showing how identification works when it works and how it fails when it fails. Harper exposes the myth that identification can protect against future terrorist attacks. He shows that a U.S. national identification card, created by Congress in the REAL ID Act, is a poor way to secure the country or its citizens. A national ID represents a transfer of power from individuals to institutions, and that transfer threatens liberty, enables identity fraud, and subjects people to unwanted surveillance. Instead of a uniform, government-controlled identification system, Harper calls for a competitive, responsive identification and credentialing industry that meets the mix of consumer demands for privacy, security, anonymity, and accountability. Identification should be a risk-reducing strategy in a social system, Harper concludes, not a rivet to pin humans to governmental or economic machinery.