ID card fears after biometric passport 'cracked' in 2 hours
PLANS to bring in ID cards could lead to a massive surge in identity fraud, campaigners warned yesterday.
Security experts in Holland have exposed a weakness in the technology which allows data to be "skimmed" from a prototype biometric passport just 11 yards away.
Within two hours they had access to personal information, including fingerprints, a digital photo of the passport holder and their date of birth.
The proposed British compulsory ID card will use similar technology to store biometric information about every adult in the country.
Anti-ID card group NO2ID claimed that, if not successfully rectified, the security flaws could "fuel a massive increase in identity fraud" rather than combat it.
The news comes ahead of today's release of a Home Office report, expected to announce there has been an explosion in identity theft in the UK
