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Electronic identity has an image problem. The public often react negatively to any talk of high-tech national identity cards or biometric passports; and businesses groan about the expense of implementing yet another new technology. Prompted by security fears, governments are often seen as the main drivers--and the principal beneficiaries--of electronic identity solutions.
It may well be that governments are the keenest to get going with this technology, in order, for example, to make sure international borders can be both secure and easy to cross; or to help tackle the elusive threat that is international terrorism. However amidst popular fears over civil liberties and concerns from business about costs, it is easy to forget that electronic identity will make life easier for the public, whilst ultimately helping businesses to save money.
How? Take the issue of proving that we are who we say we are, essential in parts of everyday life such as banking or insurance. Currently this manages simultaneously to be too easy and too difficult.
An example of why it is too easy is the availability of fake utility bills which can now, it is reported, be bought cheaply on the Internet, enabling the creation of false identity. As a result, identity theft has become a major feature of modern life, with consequences that are damaging for its victims and expensive for the businesses.
At the same time, proving identity is more difficult than it should be, because we are constantly required to confirm who we are—by digging out a range of different documents—whenever you want, say, to open a new account or get a loan.
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