Prototype ID card unveiled

12:39 29th September 2008

The Home Office has unveiled the first prototype ID card, as it attempts to build support towards the beginning of the scheme in November.

The card contains an electronic chip, which will store the holder's biometric details, including fingerprints and a digital facial image.

Within three years, all foreign nationals applying for leave to enter or remain in the UK will be required to have a card and the government hopes that by 2014, 90 per cent of migrants will be covered by the scheme.

Jacqui Smith, home secretary, said: "ID cards for foreign nationals will replace old-fashioned paper documents; make it easier for employers and sponsors to check entitlement to work and study, and for the UK Border Agency to verify someone's identity."

Last week, the co-founder of the internet security group Kaspersky Laboratories claimed that cyber-crime will continue to grow, as long as governments refuse to address it by bringing in tougher sentences.

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