Not surprising
I think this is a problem that's been brewing for years. How do you define and then establish identity?
If I produce a birth certificate and claim to be the person named on it does it prove that I am? No, in fact the certificates specifically say that they are not a proof of identity?
What about National Insurance Number? That is also not a proof of identity.
Some businesses want a recent utility bill or bank statement to prove your identity; the utilities and banks want to go paperless. And such documents would be fairly easy to forge. I had a couple of gigs at one time, one with a real security printer where all waste had to be securely destroyed on site with records kept and the other printing utility bills where waste was overflowing from a skip in the car park.
The identity card would have solved this wouldn't it? More likely it would have brought these problems to light a few years earlier.
Lots of organisations want verified identity but want to throw the problem of verification over the wall for someone else to deal with.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
