The A to Z of ID cards

D is for Data privacy worries

The UK's data protection watchdog has said there is no justification for storing so much personal and biometric information in the National Identity Register.

In 2005 outgoing information commissioner Richard Thomas said the extent of the information proposed to be retained in the NIR amounted to unwarranted and intrusive.

And he has warned that the ID card data could easily be linked with other initiatives such as CCTV surveillance using automatic facial recognition and the use of automatic number plate recognition systems recording vehicle movements.

He said: "Each development puts in place another component in the infrastructure of a 'surveillance society'."

There are also concerns over who would be able to access the data in the database - although there is a minimum two-year sentence for unauthorised disclosure of information from the database.