---

Identity Cards

Answer

In response to the themes identified by the Bichard inquiry, the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) embarked on a pilot exercise to explore and investigate the benefits and costs of facilitating the provision of an on-line identity authentication service to authenticate the identity of disclosure applicants.To that end, in July 2004 the CRB posted a Government Opportunities Notice seeking expressions of interest from suppliers of on-line identity authentication services to take part in a three-month pilot to trial products, at the supplier's own cost, with CRB registered bodies. Following the application of a basic sift criteria the following suppliers were invited to take part in the pilot: BT, Call-credit, Equifax and Experian. The pilot involved each supplier providing his or her product directly to a registered body. No charge was made to CRB or the participating registered bodies for the use of the products deployed at the registered bodies. Importantly, the on-line authentication check did not replace the current CRB authentication rules—the check was conducted alongside the normal paper-based checks.Each pilot ran for a period of 12 weeks, the start date largely dependent on the sector in which the body operated. Registered bodies held the responsibility for obtaining the applicants consent for the pilot, obtained through a ‘Consent Statement' specifically developed by the CRB for the pilot exercise. The general view of registered bodies participating in the pilot was that, while they could see the benefits of deploying similar systems in support of the identity authentication process for disclosure applicants, the type of system trialled whereby electronic authentication is required did not in its present form add any significant benefit to the current authentication process.It is important to note that the products deployed by the four pilot suppliers were ‘off the shelf' for the purposes of the pilot although each supplier was keen to stress that bespoke solutions are available. Following the successful conclusion of the pilot exercise, the pilot report conclusions and the wider identity-related developments in government and commerce are currently under consideration by the CRB Management Board.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

26778; 439 c1261-2W;439 c1263-4W

Session

2005-06

Subjects

Criminal records ICT Pilot schemes Vetting Criminal Records Bureau

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk