Criminals can copy personal information (from a bank
statement, for example) or steal or forge the documents – such as
utility bills – we currently use to prove identity.
The National Identity Scheme is designed to be far more secure than anything
we use at present. Security is built in to the system in the following ways:
Biometric
data is held both on
the card and in the National Identity Register (NIR).
A criminal may steal your card, but your unique biometric data cannot be
taken from you. Anyone trying to make a major financial transaction, for
example, would have their biometric data checked against that held in the
NIR. If they were not the registered cardholder this check would fail.
Each ID card has a PIN known
only to the cardholder.
Each card also has a biometric image of the cardholder’s
face. This looks like a photograph and can be used for a quick visual check
that the customer presenting the card is the genuine cardholder.
We expect the increased security offered by the National Identity Scheme to:
make it far more difficult to commit identity theft and fraud
act as a deterrent for the future
make it much easier to catch and prosecute those who attempt identity theft
and fraud.
