Sir – The ongoing and somewhat controversial debate concerning national ID cards is jumping the gun.

Whether it is popular or not, online users will be required to prove their identity when accessing any form of Government service via the Internet long before any national ID cards may take centre stage.

New Labour’s recently-announced ‘Government Connect’ programme is a very strong indication of Parliament’s intent to require British citizens to do more in proving their identities when accessing central and local Government services online.

Citizens will have to pass through a two-stage proof of identity or ‘authentication’ process as ‘username and password’ alone is now considered insufficient security for people either accessing or performing services online.

Given that identity theft in this country is now a massive concern for the authorities, those accessing Internet-based services – be they Government-related or otherwise – must become used to proving that they are indeed who they claim to be.

Marie Thornton, Marketing Manager (EMEA) Entrust

Source

SMT