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Identity Cards Bill

I have tabled Amendment No. 175, which stands in my name and those of the noble Baronesses, Lady Anelay and Lady Seccombe, and my noble friend Lord Dholakia, and is grouped with Amendment No. 11. Amendment No. 175 seeks to amend Clause 13, which is headed, Invalidity and surrender of ID cards. Clause 13 provides that the Secretary of State may cancel an ID card in certain circumstances, for example, if it has been stolen, lost or damaged. My amendment is a probing one in the real sense of the word. I seek to add to Clause 13 the proviso that the Secretary of State will supply another card if,"““there has been unauthorised access to the record of registrable facts on the Register about the individual concerned””." In Clause 13 there is already provision for the Secretary of State to cancel and replace an ID card if it has been tampered with. Clause 13(8) states that,"““references to a card having been tampered with include references to information in or on it having been modified for an unlawful purpose, or copied or otherwise extracted for such a purpose””." If, as my amendment states, that formulation covers,"““unauthorised access to the record of registrable facts””," my amendment is redundant, and I shall be a happy man. No doubt the noble Baroness will tell me if that is the case. If it is not the case, it is worth including the measure as there will, unfortunately, be cases of unauthorised access.