With the passage of the Identity Cards Act 2006, the transition to biometrics-based identity cards began. Government officials were pushing for the new identification cards and the use of biometrics data based on issues of national security and to decrease fraud. All new passports, as well as passports that were up for renewal, were to be issued with the new identification information. All new cards with biometrics data would include ten fingerprints, an iris scan and facial scan (known to us old schoolers as as “photo”), as well as all past and current UK-based addresses linked to the person.

The identification document is also slated to be usable throughout the Eurozone. By the way, some clarification for us “yanks”… Eurozone, not to be confused with Autozone where I can pick up some nice cool gear for my ride, is a currency union of 16 European Union member states which have adopted the Euro as their sole legal tender. This list currently consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.

There was controversy over the compulsory nature of the cards. In addition, the creation of the National Identity Register caused unease among privacy experts as well as activists who were concerned about the security of such data, particularly with so much sensitive and identifiable information now available on the cards. In addition to the threat of identity theft, critics also charged that the cards would allow the government to spy on its citizens. Additional criticism came from citizens who were concerned about the cost of implementing such an ambitious program which supposedly is in the billions of pounds (sterling, not the fat kind).

Well… last week Home Secretary Alan Johnson unveiled the final design of this controversial national identity card and said the card will be offered to members of the public in the Greater Manchester area from the end of this year. The £30 ID card will be launched nationwide in 2011 or 2012, and will not be compulsory… for now… LOLz! hehehe

Why? Up until recently, Mexican citizens used voter ID cards as a form of identification and that’s not exactly the panacea of identification technology. Each citizen also has an 18-character identification number, similar to a social security number that is used in the United States. Even though the voter ID cards were sufficient for most purposes, the recent violence in Mexico is leading the policymakers to look for other ways to crack down on illegal activity. Earlier this year, the Mexican state of Tamaulipas began an initial testing program of the biometrics cards.

This effort parallels an initiative in the United States government, called REAL ID that you’ve probably heard of, which will likewise require biometric information from US citizens. Real ID on the other hand has been on a rockier path. While proponents in the U.S. push that the REAL ID will help combat illegal immigration and reduce the presence of undocumented workers, privacy advocates see things differently.

To compound the matter more, Mexico’s government is not renowned for its transparency or its accountability, so one wonders how the average Mexican citizen feels about giving any additional power to the government. At any rate, one thing is certain: lines at the Mexican version of the DMV will undoubtedly be longer, since not merely a photograph but now highly detailed biometrics will be required-several more scans ostensibly for the purposes of security and identification.

Now back to the card: The old voter ID cards have a photo, signature, and one fingerprint (ink). The new ID cards will sport multiple fingerprints, and potentially include face/photo and iris scans. The information will be stored on a magnetic strip. The old voter ID cards will still be accepted until they are replaced with the new biometrics-based cards.