ID Card database to be used as population register

OUT-LAW.COM | April 28 2006

The Government announced last week that data from the National Identity Register (NIR) will also be used as an adult population register for a range of novel data sharing functions.

The Office of National Statistics had promoted a separate adult population register as part of the Citizen Information Project (CIP) for these functions, but the announcement states that the CIP project has been wound up and its functions incorporated into the wider use of NIR data. The announcement also changes many undertakings given to Parliament when it considered the ID Card legislation.

When these plans are put into effect, personal data from the NIR will be used for purposes unconnected with crime, terrorism, illegal employment and immigration - the only purposes mentioned by Labour in its manifesto prepared for the 2005 General Election. The manifesto is important as the ID Card Act passed its Parliamentary stages in March after a dispute between the House of Commons and Lords over its wording.

Minutes of meetings available on the CIP's website (7 page/22KB PDF) show that the Home Office:

"has responsibility for delivering an adult population register that enables basic contact data held on NIR to be downloaded to other public sector stakeholders" (The "Treasury and Cabinet Office should ensure that NIR delivers CIP functionality as planned");
"takes responsibility for ensuring from around 2021 basic contact data held by stakeholders can be up-loaded to the NIR";
"should design the take-up profile of the NIR to be such that population statistics can be realised for the 2021 census".
The CIP's final report (29 page/404KB PDF) states (at page 17), that secondary legislation will allow "public services to be provided with NIR data without the need to obtain specific citizen consent".

This wide ranging access to NIR data without consent of the citizen is a change from the explanations given to Parliament when it considered the ID Card legislation. On 5 October, MPs were told by Parliamentary under secretary Andy Burnham that: "Direct access to information held on the National Identity Register by anyone outside those responsible for administering the scheme will not be possible, only requests for information can be made by third parties. In the vast majority of cases, verification of information on the register will only be possible with the person's consent."

In October 2005, the Home Secretary reinforced this message and told the House of Commons: "What the Bill allows is for information to be provided from the register either with the consent of the individual or without that consent in strictly limited circumstances in accordance with the law of the land."

On 10 January 2005, the CIP wrote to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister saying that: "The ID Card would seem to provide a logical way to confirm the identity and eligibility to vote in the longer term" and that the Electoral Register holds the same information on the NIR and that "there would seem scope here for collaboration between the two systems". On 13th February 2006, the Government stated: "There is currently no proposal for these specifications to provide for two-way data-sharing with the proposed identity cards register".

The CIP final report provides examples of how NIR data could be used:

"DWP targeting the 300,000 eligible citizens not currently claiming pensions";
Taxation authorities "contacting employees required to complete self assessment";
Managing passport application peaks by getting customers to apply early;
Department for Education and Skills "tracing children at risk via their guardians addresses";
"Local councils collecting debt from citizens who have moved to another authority";
"NHS targeting specific citizen groups for screening campaigns"; and
"reducing the overall administrative burden on bereaved people"
The Sunday Times reported on 23 April that ministers are considering whether or not to enter health personal details as part of the ID Card holder's details in the NIR. The newspaper reports that: "the Home Office wants cardholders to put personal health information on the cards to give doctors information for emergencies. Cardholders will also be urged to volunteer details of blood group, allergies, and whether they wish to donate organs".

Although the storage of these medical details will require the consent of the cardholder, the step changes the position as stated during the passage of the ID Cards Bill. In the House of Lords, Baroness Scotland of Asthal told Peers on 30 January 2006 that it is clear that the register will not contain health records as "any addition to the list of information in Schedule 1 (the part of the ID Card legislation which describes the content of the NIR) would have to be consistent with the statutory purposes, which in effect rules out any possibility of adding, for example, medical or criminal records".

The CIP Minutes also show that a draft of the 18 April announcement was prepared for release nine months earlier. The minutes state: "The board noted that the timing of the CIP announcement needed to be considered against the ID Cards programme."

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