Airport workers first UK citizens to get ID cards
From Reuters:
Up to 200,000 airport workers will be fingerprinted and issued with identity cards from the middle of 2009, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said Thursday. They will be the first British citizens to be required to have the cards, because of the high level of security needed for their jobs, she said.From 2010, students will be encouraged to apply voluntarily for the cards, which will store the holder’s fingerprint on a chip. “It will make it easier to enrol on a course, apply for a student loan, open a bank account or prove your age,” Smith told a London think-tank.”It is inconceivable that in today’s world people should not have a single, safe way of securing and verifying their identity,” she added. A widespread roll-out of the cards to all British citizens will follow from 2011 alongside the introduction of passports containing electronically stored fingerprints. [Read More]
