The National Identity Service, made up of the National Identity Register (NIR), biometric passports and identity cards, is being developed by the Identity and Passport Service and the UK Border Agency (UKBA). The National Identity Service replaces the need for a variety of documents to prove your identity with one card and introduces a range of new services too. For British citizens, the identity card will also be valid for European travel.

Both passports and identity cards will include biometrics of your unique physical features (face and fingerprints), securing them to your biographic details (including your name, address, and date of birth).

The National Identity Service brings identity assurance. By locking one individual to one identity using their biometrics, the National Identity Service will make it much harder to create false identities. This will reduce the gains to be had from stolen identities. Once a person has their biometrics stored on the NIR, they will be unable to claim an additional identity - and those that are there already cannot easily be impersonated. By keeping it this simple and providing stronger identity assurance, the National Identity Service helps ensure public services are used by those entitled to them and not by those set upon abusing the system.

National Identity Register

The National Identity Service combines passports and identity cards with the National Identity Register and a range of identity services for both individuals and businesses.
Since the National Identity Register (NIR) will hold an identity card owner's biographic and biometric details securely, it is able to provide confirmation that you are the rightful owner of an identity record.

Biometric details will be held separately from biographical details. The National Identity Register only holds basic personal information: name, address and date of birth. It does not hold sensitive information like religion, ethnicity or tax, health or criminal records.

Why is the National Identity Service needed?

The importance of being able to prove identity is nothing new - banking and international travel systems rely on people being able to prove who they are.

The growth in the number of transactions that call for identity to be verified is increasing the need for individuals to be able to assert their identity easily and with confidence.

What benefits will the National Identity Service bring?

The importance of being able to prove identity is nothing new - banking and international travel systems rely on people being able to prove who they are.

The growth in the number of transactions that call for identity to be verified is increasing the need for individuals to be able to assert their identity easily and with confidence.

The National Identity Service will be:

• a secure way for people to prove identity when dealing with public and private sector services
• a replacement for multiple means of proving identity (that are frequently more vulnerable to identity theft and fraud)
• a secure method for employers and the providers of public services to be confident that the people they are dealing with are who they say they are
• a simple proof of age for accessing age-restricted goods and services
• a protection against the use of multiple identities by criminals and terrorists

Delivery timetable

The National Identity Service will be delivered during the next three years:

• from 25 November 2008, the UK Borders Agency (UKBA) began issuing compulsory identity cards to foreign nationals who come here to work or study   
• in late 2009 we will start issuing voluntary identity cards for airside workers - starting with an 18 month evaluation at Manchester and London City airports
• in late 2009 we will offer people in Manchester the chance to enrol for the first identity cards, with an extension to other locations in North West England early in 2010.
• from 2010, starting with young people, we will begin offering identity cards on a voluntary basis to anyone who will benefit from them in their daily lives
• from 2011/12 identity cards will roll out to the wider population on an entirely voluntary basis

Further information

Information about the development of the National Identity Scheme (as it was first named and is referenced in legislation) press releases and related archived documents are all available in the Research are of our Publications section.

We recognise that it needs to be easy for businesses to establish a person's eligibility to obtain certain products and services, and, over the next few years, a number of different identity verifications tools will become available.

If you are a business or organisation in the public or private sector and you want to know how the National Identity Service will work, our Business pages should be your guide.

Documents in the Legislative and Parliamentary area of our Publications section include the National Identity Scheme Delivery Plan 2008, the Identity Cards Act Secondary Legislation: A consultation (period ending 13 February 2008) and the Office of General Commerce reviews. You will also find cost reports, of which there have been five published to date; the most recent estimating public expenditure on the National Identity Scheme over the next ten years, presented to Parliament on 6 November 2008.

• Business services
• Research, tracking: Results of 2008-2009 surveys examining public attitudes to the National Identity Scheme and ID cards