I was pleased to read a positive slant on ID cards.

Civil liberty concerns are important, but some projects already use proven unique identifiers to replace personal data, demonstrating how anonymous data sharing across agencies really works.  And 'Big Brother' concerns are neutered.

It is a data, not an IT, problem.  Three housing authorities, four social services, two child protection teams, an NSPCC team and two hospitals all failed to intervene despite 12 separate opportunities to save Victoria Climbié's life.  The 9/11 Commission and Bichard Reports cited the same problem.

Yet they all used unique identifiers to knit disparate data together to get the full picture.

Get the data right, get the unique IDs right, and data protection is not a problem.  The benefits of ID cards spread a wider net than just public protection.

Adrian McKeon

Managing Director

Infoshare