Microsoft slams UK ID card database

Unnecessary to build a system with all the data in one place, says Microsoft technology officer

Microsoft's national technology officer has attacked the UK government's plans for a centralised database supporting the proposed national ID card scheme.

Jerry Fishenden told vnunet.com that current plans for a centralised database with large amounts of information on each person are a mistake, and could lead to "massive identity fraud".

He went on to criticise the IT industry for not clearly voicing the real concerns.

"It is unnecessary to build a system with all the data in one place," he said. "The Home Office should be basing the design on the knowledge that any system of that size will be breached, most likely by criminal gangs with huge resources."

When asked why he was making such statements on the day the Commons voted on the ID Card Bill, Fishenden said only that the IT industry had so far not been getting its views across properly.

"When we attend meetings with the Home Office I have noticed that industry representatives do not voice their concerns very much. Only outside the meetings do you hear their concerns," he explained.

Fishenden pulls no punches concerning the industry's lack of input so far. " I do not think that the IT industry has been coherent and consistent enough about the way the ID card system is conceived," he said.

"Any ID system needs only to keep information that is appropriate to a particular search in one location. That way you reduce the impact of loss or theft by decentralising the data."

Part of the problem could be because the Home Office liaises with a number of IT industry groups, notably Eurim, Intellect and the British Computer Society (BCS).

Fishenden maintained that his views are supported by the BCS, which has made similar representations to the Home Office.

"The IT industry needs to find a language in relation to privacy and identity to talk to the wider community," said Fishenden.

Critics may see the attack as a means of pulling the programme more in the direction of Microsoft's view of IT systems.

Fishenden sees no conflict of interest in saying that "decentralised IT is part of Microsoft's philosophy. It's all part of our shared services agenda."