Anyone know more about this BT "uk identity verification" sc heme?

[Ian G Batten]

On Fri, 07 Mar 2003, Brian Morrison wrote:

> Madness, so he now has a verified identity based on nothing at all, and
> if that were to be used as proof of ID in another sphere one simply
> builds on even more sand.

That's what happen when junior civil servants and council officials,
whose job isn't really building identity systems, end up building
identity systems.  I can think of few things in favour of Blunkett's
scheme, and much against it, but it would be hard to imagine a system
_worse_ that the current web of identity systems which are, are you say,
largely built on sand.

In the past few years, my wife and I have between us acted as
counter-signatories, witnesses or character references for:

- Eight passports, all subsequently granted

- A British Citizenship Application, subsequently granted

- A firearms certificate, subsequently granted.  The guy in question
  holds .308, .38S&W and .357 magnum.  The latter two are for use in a
  lever-action carbine chambered for .357 but useful, obviously, for
  anyone with an illegally held pistol [*].

In no case were we contacted by the authorities to verfiy our signature
or existence.  It's hard to see what stops someone countersigning their
own form with a random person's name.

ian

[*] The .357 is more powerful and the word `magnum' more emotive, but
    the .38 is more useful to a black hat.  There are far more weapons
    chambered in .38 he is likely to have access to, and he can use .38
    in any .357 magnum weapon he may come upon, but the converse is not
    true.  .357 is the same calibre as .38, but the cartridge is longer.