NO2ID

http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/218 ... ion-scheme

EU proposes cross-border electronic identification scheme

By Graeme Burton

07 Jun 2012

The European Commission has published a draft regulation governing electronic identification (e-ID) and trust services, with the aim of building a pan-European framework for digital signatures, and making it easier to verify identities online, across Europe.

In the process, the Commission hopes to make it easier for EU citizens of one country to interact with the public administrations of another.

Past attempts to harmonise electronic identities across Europe, most notably the 1999 Community Framework for Electronic Signatures Directive, have failed because of a lack of trust and the differing schemes operated across the EU.

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Data protection regimes already apply to national e-ID schemes, but the proposed directive will take this a step further by making member states assume liability for their own systems. That will give individuals and organisations the right to take legal action against governments in event of a problem with e-ID data or access to services.

However, the UK has the biggest DNA database by far - so it's a lopside agreement, working against UK citizens, many of whom are innocent or never charged but still on the DNA database (and can't get removed).