The Limits of Identity Cards
Good legal paper on the limits of identity cards: Stephen Mason and Nick Bohm, “Identity and its Verification,” in Computer Law & Security Review, Volume 26, Number 1, Jan 2010.
Those faced with the problem of how to verify a person’s identity would be well advised to ask themselves the question, ‘Identity with what?’ An enquirer equipped with the answer to this question is in a position to tackle, on a rational basis, the task of deciding what evidence will be useful for the purpose. Without the answer to the question, the verification of identity becomes a sadly familiar exercise in blind compliance with arbitrary rules.
Clive Robinson • March 10, 2010 7:34 AM
All an identity document can authenticate is it’s self back to a root document such as a birth certificate.
It does not currently actually identify an individual in any way and all the biometric systems so far suggested have significant issues (even DNA).