Identity cards: Intelligence

Will an ID card cut identity fraud?

This week we're featuring a series of three special reports about national identity cards as the government presses ahead with its plans for a scheme in the UK.

Civil liberties groups are outraged by the prospect of a national identity card which it is feared will cause the biggest threat to freedom since World War Two.

Breakfast has been looking at the issue from different perspectives. For our final film, we looked at how the system works in Germany - and asked: could we adapt it for use in Britain.

On Monday, Graham Satchell looked at how an identity card scheme might work in the UK and what the card could look like.

Click here for the first part in this series: Information

On Tuesday Max Foster reported on fraud and benefits and whether using an ID card can prevent it.

Click here to see the report in our series: Fraud

And today, Tristana Moore reported from Germany where a scheme is already in place, and whether the card has been successful in preventing terrorism.

We also talked live to the former head of the Flying Squad John O'Connor who thinks an ID card would work in the UK.

Intelligence

In Germany it's compulsory to carry your ID card; a 16 year old buying alcohol or cigarettes in a supermarket would have to show his or her card as proof of age.

In fact many Germans carry the card and don't find them any more of an inconvenient than carrying a credit card.

When you move to a new town in Germany, you have to register with the local authorities and once issued, you must carry it.

If you are stopped on the streets, you have to be able to get hold of it as soon as possible, and there are random police checks.

But a common fear about identity cards is what happens to the information stored on the card, and who has access to it.

There are still many critics of the German scheme.

Since the attacks on September the 11, the German government has brought in new anti-terrorism laws, and intelligence agencies now have access to the information on the ID card.

In Germany, ID cards are a part of everyday life and many people have no objection to carrying them - the government still has a long way to go before such a scheme would be accepted in the UK and fears overcome about our freedom and rights.