Tuesday, January 08, 2013

Orwellian Chip ID card: BC government will have ability to track citizens

Our spidey senses better be tingling over this. There is something really smelly with these new RFID chip identification cards. Why are the BC Liberal government ramming through these cards before we even have a clear idea how the most sensitive information about citizens is safeguarded? 

They won't even let B.C.'s Information & Privacy Commissioner study and report out on this and the government has been stalling and won't release information the Commissioner has request. Our hackles are raised. Yours should be too.

Read more about Radio-frequency identification (RFID)'s here

The latest video from #Anonymous @ 2:13 mentions how Canada is introducing RFID's for ID and that there is no security. View it for yourself. 

Anonymous- A message to Canadians


********************************* 
Privacy commissioner to review centralized ID cards

Dirk Meissner, Globe & Mail, Jan. 07 2013. 

British Columbia is introducing a high-tech identification card for everyone from infants to the elderly to replace the old CareCard health system, and add driver’s licences and other government services.


The five-year project has a budget of $150-million and will start next month.

“We are going to take every measure to make sure [it won’t] be compromised,” she said. “One of the things that is very important for people to know is the card itself doesn’t contain, for example, your health record or your driving record or anything else. So, if somebody picks up your card, that information isn’t stored in the card.”

Ms. MacDiarmid said the card contains a chip that once activated can only be accessed through a code known only by the card holder.

The new cards include a photograph and expire every five years, she said.

The card can double as a driver’s licence, but users have the opportunity to request a separate driver’s licence, Ms. MacDiarmid said.

She said most residents will get their new BC Service Cards when they renew their driver’s licences, while non-drivers and children will also enrol at locations where driver’s licences are issued.

Ms. MacDiarmid said the government is looking to link the card with other government services, which allows card owners to access records and conduct government business online.

*********************************************************
BC Freedom of Information & Privacy Association, January 8th, 2013.
 
On Monday, the B.C. Government launched a province-wide communications blitz to announce the February 15th launch date of its long-delayed B.C. Services Card.

The new card, which will be rolled out to British Columbians over the next five years, is set to replace the aging CareCard system, currently used to track and deliver health care across the province. It will combine the functions of your old CareCard with your B.C. driver's license, all in the name of cutting down on health care billing fraud and providing you with what the government likes to call "citizen-centred services."


FIPA has repeatedly raised questions over just why the new card is needed, what it does to protect citizen data from inappropriate use, and how it will link disparate government databases together, creating a potential goldmine for hackers. But despite the government's new push to unveil the card, these questions are a long way from answered.

In fact, we still don’t have answers as to why the Integrated Case Management system, another major component of the government’s data linking plans, blew up so spectacularly last year. The government said it had hired consultants to review what went wrong, but no report has come of that plan yet--or at least not a public one. Nor have we heard from the Information and Privacy Commissioner about the various ICM privacy breaches.

Following yesterday´s announcement, B.C. Information and Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham circulated a statement indicating that her office had not finished reviewing the Services Card program, and was still waiting for information from the government:
My office is reviewing the B.C. Services Card. It is critical that in developing this program, that the sensitive personal information of British Columbians is protected.

Among other things, we are carefully evaluating the security issues associated with the proposal as well as the system architecture. In this regard, we are still awaiting information from the relevant ministries and government agencies.

When complete, I will be issuing a full public statement about the outcome of my review.
Apparently the new ID card program is so important, it could not wait for the Commissioner’s input.

This is not the first time at the provincial government has tried to jam things past the Commissioner’s office. Last spring the government hammered four bills through the legislature, each of which was publicly criticized by Denham's office for serious access and privacy problems.

FIPA has been trying unsuccessfully to get information on the card program for almost two years. We are working with the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, who have received funding from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada to conduct research into the Services Card. Visit the study's website today for more information and resources.

After the catastrophic failure of earlier datalinkage megaprojects like Integrated Case Management and BCeSis, it would seem reasonable, even for a government intent on proceeding down this road, to wait and find out what went wrong before spending more money on yet another personal information grab. But that is not what is happening in B.C. today.

The government must put a stop to this waste of taxpayers’ money and stop endangering citizens’ personal information.


***********************************

1 comment:

Hugh said...

My old care card works fine, just like my old hydro meter.