Fair warning

Lee Griffin at LC:

So, let’s keep this short and simple. Tomorrow and Thursday the Coroners and Justice Bill enters its committee stage where two days are set aside to take evidence from all relevant parties and whittle the bill down to something that is likely to be sailed through the third reading stage. Fat chance, then, that we can expect any significant changes or removal of the absolutely awful changes to the data protection act; this is why it is extremely important that you keep writing to your MP (it’s a simple online form, takes 5 minutes) and tell them that you oppose any introduction of sections 152-154 of the Coroners and Justice bill. …

Banks doubt usefulness of ID card scheme

Silicon:

While the Home Office is hoping ID cards will one day be used for everything fromclaiming benefits to opening bank accounts, the UK financial services industry has its doubts over how useful the cards will prove.

The UK payments association Apacs – whose members includes the UK’s major high street banks – is worried that security features that would have made the card useful for checking identity in large money transfers and online transactions have been stripped from the scheme.

Head of security for Apacs Colin Whittaker told a conference hosted by the BCS Security Forum yesterday: “Some of the features we were expecting in the ID card are not going to be present for the foreseeable future.

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According to the Home Office, it is important not to overcomplicate the card with too many features.

Speaking at the same event, identity minister Meg Hillier said: “If you try and lay too much on something then you risk overwhelming it and making it too complex.

“You risk the core and the core is that we have an ID register that is safe and links an individual to their ID.”

Not if the Register isn’t checked, you dullard.

ContactPoint – the launch that wasn’t

ARCHrights:

I should think everyone has seen the grand announcement of the ‘launch’ of Contactpoint by now. Actually, it’s not really a launch at all. It’s simply that DCSF is giving access to two members of staff from each local authority in the hopes that they can sort out the godawful mess that is ’shielding’.

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