Around 500 hard disk drives and 100 back-up tapes containing the details of 15,000 ID card holders have been magnetically wiped and shredded.
According to the Government, all materials will soon be incinerated in an environmentally friendly ‘waste-for-energy’ process.
The move signals an official end to the National Identity Register which was configured to look after the details of people who applied for an ID card.
As reported by SMT Online, the scheme was scrapped by the coalition Government and the cards ceased to be valid legal documents as of 22 January this year.
Database destruction
Yesterday, Home Office minister Damian Green helped shred the last of the hard disk drives at an Essex industrial site (watch the video at the foot of this article).
“Laying ID cards to rest demonstrates the Government’s commitment to scale back the power of the state and restore civil liberties,” said Green.
“This is all about people having trust in the Government to know when it’s necessary and appropriate for the state to hold and use personal data. It’s also about the Government placing its trust in the common sense and responsible attitude of people.”
Green also pointed out that this is the “first step” in the “process of restoring and maintaining our freedoms”.
Change in the law
People can no longer use the ID cards to prove their identity, or employ them as a travel document in Europe.
The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) has written to all cardholders and informed international border agencies, travel operators and customers of the change in law.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: “I have always called in the strongest terms possible for the National Identity Register to be scrapped, and it was one of the first things the coalition Government pledged to do. I’m delighted that Damian has laid it to rest once and for all.”
Clegg continued: “The ID cards scheme was a direct assault on our liberty: something too precious to be tossed aside, and something which this Government is determined to restore. The Government is committed to rolling back as much state interference as is humanly possible. The destruction of the register is only the beginning of that process.”
The Identity Documents Bill
ID cards were scrapped under the coalition Government’s first Home Office Bill to pass through Parliament. The Identity Documents Bill received Royal Assent on 21 December last year.
Equipment holding the information on the National Identity Register has been magnetically wiped and shredded in line with Cabinet Office rules (and to NSA standards).
Cancelling identity cards will save the taxpayer around GB pound 86 million over the next four years once one-off costs like decommissioning costs, contract termination and asset write-offs are taken into account.
Planned future investment set out in the Identity Card Cost Report 2009 of GB pound 835 million up to 2019 has also been stopped.
For more information about the decommissioning of the National Identity Scheme and for answers to frequently asked questions, visit the IPS website (a dedicated link is provided on the right hand panel of this page)
