By Andy McCue, 28 April 2006 16:30
NEWS
RFID-style ID cards will last for 10 years without wearing out but will cost up to a third more than a standard smartcard, according to the Identity and Passport Service (IPS).
The claim is based on the findings of a market sounding survey of specialist smartcard suppliers, conducted by the IPS, into the durability and cost of different types of card that could be used for the UK's national ID card scheme.
The survey concluded that contactless RFID-style smartcards with a 10-year life are feasible and durable but that the level of industry experience in this field is more limited as the technologies involved have only been developed relatively recently.
Contactless cards were found to be the most durable type of smartcard because there is less wear and tear but there are durability issues with the connection of the antenna to the chip, which can break under physical stress when the card is flexed.
Contactless cards would cost 15 to 30 per cent more than a standard contact-based smartcard but would be cheaper than other alternatives such as a dual interface card, which works on both contact and contactless readers, and a hybrid card, which has two chips, the survey found.
Other issues cited by the 12 smartcard vendors that responded to the survey included the fact there is little practical experience of contactless cards because the technology is less than 10 years old and there is a current production capacity shortfall for large smartcard schemes.
The procurement process for the ID cards project is expected to begin soon and the IPS revealed last week that spending has reached £56m before any tenders have gone out.
Comments
There are 6 comments. Join the discussion
1. anonymous
These RFID cards and Passports come with a tuned aerial. It won't be too long before some joker positions a hidden EMF generator emitting electromagnetic radiation of a matching frequency, next to the entrance of an airport/rail station. The result will be cooked logic circuitry on the RFID chip on important identity documents.
2. Richard
Home Office should do its "day job":
The recent reports of widespread chaos show that the Home Office should be concentrating on its routine work rather than promoting this crazy ID Cards scheme.
If it cannot "remember" the names or nationalities of convicted prisoners, what chance of running a huge ID system.
Staff morale is rock bottom.
Like any failing organisation, the Home Office must give up its grandiose ideas and concentrate on its core role.
3. Graham Coles
So you'll have to fork out a lot more money when you lose the thing.
Perhaps they can find an even more expensive one that returns to you when you whistle.
4. Richard A
Hope they last longer than Oyster Cards.
My Oyster cards (contactless electronic wallet / PRE-payment cards for London Underground) die with alarming regularity every 3 months.
I am told my error is to putting them in my back pocket; "Its not an environment they are designed to withstand, sir"
Well, they had better be designed to withstand it cos, unless I have a uniquely magnetised posterior, I'd say contactless cards are pretty rubbish at present. Apparently they are suffiently fragile that a little heat and flexion from my skinny white ?e is enough to send them straight to electronc heaven.
What hope for ID cards when we are legally obliged to carry 'em in our bumhuggin' Lev?for a night at the Roller Disco???
5. Jeremy Wickins
Of course they will wear out - it's just another piece of self-serving propaganda from the government. Presumably their preferred supplier has told them that these cards will last - after all, how would the government know, as they have done no tests of their own! In order to harden a contactless ID card against even avarage abuse would make it impractical, if not impossible, to use. Repeated temperature variation, flexion and torsion, and friction are all common likely problems a card will have to withstand - banks have stopped issuing debit and credit cards with long lives, partly for this reason.
When will the fools admit that this is not only morally wrong, but practically unworkable, and get on with the business of dealing with real problems?
6. Mark Hosey
Mr anonymous is incorrect in his assumption that these cards will be susceptible to intentional damage from nearby transmitters. EMC regulations require all EC compliant devices to be immune to permanent damage from EM fields. Electronic equipment is tested for compliance using a transmitter that generates kilowatts of EM radiation only a few meters from the equipment being tested (the card). Any EM radiation strong enough to do such damage would probably leave the card holder sterile and would require mains supply or a lorry load of batteries:-) Not easy to hide!
However, all types of card proposed so far can be totally destroyed by bunging the card in the microwave for a few seconds.
Also, the RF cards can be jammed. It can easily be done with a relatively small battery operated transmitter with a bit more power per herz than a mobile phone transmitting noise over a wide band (the cards work spread spectrum). It will only take one joker or indeed anyone with more suspect motive to disrupt an airport checkin desks or gate with such a device.
Of course these MPs, being mostly accountants and lawyers, don't see the potential in these cards for causing mayhem. Mainly because they've got it into their head that the technology is infallible. I suspect they've been listening to salesmen and consultants. If you wanna know wots wot, ask an engineer!