IT NEEDS TO MEET THE TRUST DEFICIT

Research from Glasshouse Partnership, shows that the IT security industry needs to convince citizens of its trustworthiness and the robustness of their solutions if they want to win a slice of the projects associated with the introduction of ID cards.

There is a lack of confidence in the ability of the public and private sector to manage the issue of data security. Proving the case for the ID card scheme will require substantial communication efforts to move public opinion and IT players need to convince customers that they are trust-worthy and will not abuse their position.

According to Glasshouse research, just 8 percent of people believe the national ID register will be completely safe from criminal activity. Less than 1 in 4 (23 percent) citizens say they trust the government not to misuse their personal details. However, faced with a choice, it seems they would still prefer public sector stewardship of such a scheme compared to private sector alternatives - just 1 in 20 (5 per cent) of UK citizens would trust a private organisation to manage the National Identity Register. Yet people see a National ID Register as critical to defeating ID fraud and defeating terrorism (35 per cent and 33 percent respectively).

Companies who hope to benefit financially from the introduction of the ID card will need to show accountability and trustworthiness as well as demonstrate the reliability of their offering if the scheme gets the go-ahead, says James Thellusson, Glasshouse Partnership.