The Area being Modelled is :-
Identity Cards

This is an extract from the Wikipedia entry for Identity Cards.

Reasons for introduction
Initial attempts to introduce a voluntary identity card were made under the Conservative administration of John Major,
under the then Home Secretary Michael Howard.

At the Labour party conference in 1995, Tony Blair demanded that �instead of wasting hundreds of millions of pounds on
compulsory ID cards as the Tory Right demand, let that money provide thousands more police officers on the beat in our
local communities.�

Although it was included in the Conservative election manifesto, it seems that the proposal was halted by the Labour party
victory in the 1997 general election.

A proposal for ID cards, to be called 'entitlement cards', was initially revived by the Home Secretary at the time David
Blunkett following the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001,but was reportedly opposed by Cabinet colleagues.

However, rising concerns about identity theft and the misuse of public services led to a proposal in February 2002 for the
introduction of entitlement cards to be used to obtain social security services, and a consultation paper, Entitlement Cards
and Identity Fraud, was published by the Home Office on 3 July 2002.

A public consultation process followed, which resulted in a majority of submission by organisations being in favour of a scheme
to verify a person's identity accurately.

However, it was clear that the ability to properly identify a person to their true identity was central to the proposal's operation,
with wider implications for operations against crime and terrorism.

In 2003, Blunkett announced that the government intended to introduce a 'British national identity card' linked to a national
identity database, the National Identity Register.

The proposals were included in the November 2003 Queen's Speech, despite doubts over the ability of the scheme to prevent terrorism.

Feedback from the consultation exercise indicated that the term 'entitlement card' was superficially softer and warmer, but less
familiar and �weasely�, and consequently the euphemism was dropped in favour of identity cards.

During a private seminar for the Fabian Society in August 2005, Tony McNulty, the minister in charge of the scheme, stated
'perhaps in the past the government, in its enthusiasm, oversold the advantages of identity cards,' and that they 'did suggest,
or at least implied, that they might well be a panacea for identity fraud, for benefit fraud, terrorism, entitlement and access to
public services'.

He suggested that they should be seen as 'a gold standard in proving your identity'.

Documentation released by the Home Office demonstrated analysis conducted with the private and public sector showed the benefits of
the proposed identity card scheme could be quantified at �650m to �1.1bn a year, with a number of other, less quantifiable, strategic
benefits � such as disrupting the activities of organised crime and terrorist groups.

International comparisons
Identity cards
During the UK Presidency of the EU in 2005 a decision was made to "agree common standards for security features and secure issuing
procedures for ID cards (December 2005), with detailed standards agreed as soon as possible thereafter.

In this respect, the UK Presidency has put forward a proposal for EU-wide use of biometrics in national ID cards."

Australia started work on a health and social services access card, but the government elected in the Australian federal election, 2007
cancelled it.

Belgium has introduced the Electronic identity card or eID card from 2004 and by 2012 every citizen in Belgium must have an e-ID card for
identity purposes.  A variant exists for children, but that is not compulsory. From 2012, in order to enhance security, biometric
information will be collected.

Biometrics in identity and travel documents
There has been an international move towards the introduction of biometrics into identity and travel documents.
The ICAO has recommended that all countries adopt biometric passports, and the United States has made it a requirement for entering the
US under the visa waiver programme.

Biometric border control systems have been established in the United States and the United Arab Emirates, and the EU is introducing biometric visas.

However, it should be noted that, internationally, the only requirement for biometric passports is a digital photograph.